Hetalia: Blood Covered
by Nekomata19
Summary: On Kiku Honda's last day of school, his classmates gather to bid him farewell. Arthur Kirkland decides to try a friendship spell, so that they all stay friends forever. However, something goes horribly wrong, and they are spirited away to the mysterious and haunted Sunnyside Middle School. - Corpse Party AU
1. Prologue

**AN:** Hello Hetalia Fandom! This is the first Hetalia fanfic written by myself and cutedifferent93 (She joined me in the third chapter). Now, if you couldn't tell by the summary and the title, this is heavily based off of Corpse Party. There will be a number of differences, though. Also, any characters that are made villains in this story I have nothing against, so please don't think I hate any characters, because I don't. One last thing before the warnings, there are a few characters who were never given human names – so I made some up.

**Warnings:** MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH, violence, gore, smut (yes, it happens), and frightening scenarios. If you've watched/played Corpse Party, you'll know what to expect.

Prologue

All of Hetalia Academy was pitch black. The only source of light was the flickering flame of the black candle, held in the hands of Arthur Kirkland. The dim glow added extra eeriness to the Brit's already disturbing smile.

"- and Bubsy's ghost loomed over the bed of the man who had sat in his chair….before cutting off his head!"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Luuuuuuuuuudwiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig!" Feliciano wailed, clinging to his blonde friend's arm. "Sooo scaaaaaaryyyyy!"

"Stop that!" Ludwig snapped, trying to free himself.

_BAM!_

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" everyone screamed as the door slammed open. The lights flicked on revealing their teacher, Mr. Vargas.

"Grandpa!" Feliciano cried, hurtling towards the man.

"You scared us, you old bastard!" Lovino shouted, though he too ran to hug his grandfather. Mr. Vargas sighed and shook his head.

"You two are never going to refer to me properly as your teacher are you?" he asked.

"Nope!" Feliciano said happily.

"Oh well…Anyway, what's going on in here? It far past the time you should have all left," Mr. Vargas scolded, rather halfheartedly.

"I can explain! It was limey's fault! He forced us to stay after to listen to his scary stories. Me, being the hero I am, had to stay since I know everyone else would be too scared otherwise," Alfred exclaimed, leaping to his feet.

"I did no such thing you twat!" Arthur snapped, also standing. "You know very well this was done because Kiku is leaving!"

"Aiya! You are all stupid. Scary stories are not the way to go about saying goodbye to a friend," Yao complained, not bothering to get up from the floor.

"But it was not at all scary, da? I thought it was pretty funny," Ivan commented with a grin, shifting slightly closer to Yao.

"I did not mind at all, actually. I thought it was interesting," Kiku piped up, moving to stand beside Arthur.

"Ha! See? I told you!" Arthur told them smugly.

"Oui, whatever you say, mon cher," Francis smirked from atop his desk. Gilbert snickered beside him.

"Shut it you frog!" Arthur retorted.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Alfred, your cousin was waiting for you outside, so I had brought him in from the rain. It's a good thing you're here," Mr. Vargas interrupted, stepping away from the door. Matthew stepped in with an embarrassed smile. He walked over to Alfred and lightly whapped his arm.

"You forgot me again. I've been standing outside in the rain for over an hour. You know you're my ride home," Matthew complained softly.

"Oh…Sorry dude!" Alfred laughed obnoxiously, clearly not sorry at all. Matthew sighed.

"Hey, the farewell isn't over yet. Listen up!" Arthur announced. "There was something else I wanted to do before the night ended. A…spell of sorts."

A chorus of annoyed groans echoed throughout the room.

"Stop that! Honestly…It's a harmless spell from what I read. It's meant to keeps us all being friends…even if someone moves away," he explained. "It seems to be called 'Peter's Circle of Eternity'…Or at least, that's what I was able to translate it as. I'm not the best with runes, heh."

"Soooo…..How do we do it?" Feliciano asked, re-attaching himself to Ludwig – much to the blond's consternation.

"It's fairly simple. I just need to draw to proper symbols on the ground first, then, we take this paper doll and stand in a circle. We say 'Peter we beg of you' for the number of people doing the ritual. No more, no less. Then we each rip off a piece and keep it with us for the rest of our lives," Arthur said.

"Well…I suppose I could allow it this once. But all of you need to get home right after," Mr. Vargas said.

"Yes, sir!" the students replied.

"Hey! Wake up you stupid tomato bastard! You've missed the entire party!" Lovino shouted, kicking the sleeping Spaniard in the back. Antonio woke with a yelp and jumped to his feet.

"What did I miss?" he asked with a sheepish grin. Lovino smacked him upside the head and muttered angrily.

"Basically, dude, we're doing a friendship spell for Kiku. All ya gotta do is repeat 'Peter we beg of you' uh…..twelve-"

"Thirteen! I'm here too."

"Oh, right, thirteen times, then rip this weird paper doll with us. Got it?" Alfred explained. Antonio nodded.

"Yes, this will be awesome! Let's do it now!" Gilbert exclaimed, leaping from Francis' desk. Arthur grabbed a black marker and began drawing symbols in a circle on the ground. Once he finished everyone moved into the circle and grabbed hold of a bit of the paper doll.

"I am looking forward to being friends with you all forever," Kiku said with a tiny smile.

"Yay! Friends forever!" Feliciano cheered. Arthur sighed and smiled.

"Alright, remember everyone…thirteen times exactly," he told them all. Silence fell upon the room as everyone began the chant. The soft ticking of the clock was the only sound.

"Has everyone done it?" Arthur asked after a few moments.

"Yes!"

"Alright, pull the doll apart!"

_Riiiiip…._

Everyone stared down at their pieces before tucking them away.

"That was fun!" Feliciano exclaimed with a grin. The grin was soon replaced with shock as the entire building began to quake.

"What the hell!?" Ludwig demanded.

"Earthquake!" Gilbert shouted.

"Get under the desks! Quick!" Mr. Vargas barked. Everyone turned to run to the desks but the floor in front of them crumbled and fell away, leaving a black abyss. The floor beneath them soon followed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"LUUUUUUUUUUUUUDWIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG!"


	2. Chapter 1

**AN:** Hey again! Chapter 1 is now up and ready to read. :) I hope you don't hate me too much by the end of this.

**Warning:** Charcter Death, gore, scary stuff

Chapter 1

"Uweehhhhh….Ow!" Feliciano groaned as his consciousness returned. The pain in his ankle quickly shook him from his grogginess and he sat up. Looking around, Feliciano noticed that the room he was in looked nothing like the classroom. It _did_ look like _a_ classroom…a very dilapidated classroom. There were fallen beams, bits of floor were missing, and chairs and desks were knocked over. With some pain, Feliciano managed to stand.

"Owww….Were am I?" he wondered aloud. Feliciano began to shake. He couldn't see anyone nearby, it was very dark. "Hello!?"

"Uurgg…" came a quiet response. Feliciano limped quickly in the direction of the sound, however he had to stop since the floor had disappeared. He peered across the gap to the other side of the classroom and saw the shape of a person leaning against a fallen desk.

"Wait right there!" Feliciano called. He turned and began searching along the edge to find a way across. Every step caused the boards to creak and Feliciano worried that he would fall through the floor again at any minute. Feliciano found that he would need to leave the room in order to get across. He made his way out of the classroom and into the hall.

The hallway was just as decrepit, but luckily the way to the first door of the classroom was unhindered. Feliciano hobbled along the hallway and opened the door. Feliciano limped into the room and over to the person he saw earlier.

"Lovino!" Feliciano exclaimed as his brother's form came into sight. Feliciano bent down and shook his shoulder.

"Mmm…What? Where the hell am I?" Lovino demanded after his eyes opened and adjusted. Feliciano shook his head.

"I-I don't know…but it's dark and scary…." he replied. Lovino pushed himself to his feet.

"Great! Just fuckin wonderful! First an earthquake and now we're in some weird place," he complained. Lovino paused in his rant when he noticed the odd stance of his brother.

"Fratello…what's wrong with your foot?" he asked. Feliciano pouted.

"I think I sprained it when we fell," he said. Lovino sighed irritably.

"Fan-fucking-tastic," he growled.

"I'm sorry!" Feliciano squeaked.

"Yeah, yeah. It wasn't your fault, stupid. Just…lean on me, yeah?" Lovino said. Feliciano nodded and leaned against his brother.

"I suppose we ought to look around and find a way out," said Feliciano quietly.

"Brilliant idea," Lovino replied sarcastically. Wrapping his arm around Feliciano, they headed for the door. The two brothers left the classroom and, seeing as there was a large gap preventing them from going right, they walked left. When they reached the end of the hall, there was yet another gap keeping them from the door out.

"Now what?" Lovino asked, trying his best not to sound panicked.

"Hmm…Oh! Look! There's a wide floor board over there! It must be from the floor above. We could use that to cross, right?" Feliciano replied, pointing over to a corner where, indeed, a rather wide floorboard was braced against the wall.

"Nice!" Lovino grinned. They retrieved the board and placed it across the gap. The two carefully inched across, and luckily it held. Feliciano and Lovino walked through the archway and down two sets of stairs. They entered a new hallway. As they walked, they spotted several small shoes scattered across the floor.

'_Maybe…this was an Elementary or Middle school_,' Feliciano thought.

"Hey, look! An exit!" Lovino exclaimed, hurrying them over to the set of double doors.

"W-wait! Lovino! Shouldn't we try to find the others first? They have to be around here somewhere," Feliciano said. Lovino ignored him. He grabbed the doorknobs and tried to open them, but the doors wouldn't budge. In fact, it was almost like the doors were being held in place by an unseen force.

"Wha!? What the hell!?" Lovino cursed. Feliciano hated the relief he felt. He would have hated himself more, however, if they had left the others behind. Feliciano placed a hand on Lovino's shoulder, stopping his repeated kicking of the doors.

"Lovino…let's keep going. Maybe while we look for Ludwig and everyone, we'll find and exit too," he suggested.

"Gah! Fine, whatever. It's not like we have any other choice," Lovino snapped. Given that the other halls were cut off from them by holes in the floor, they made their way back to the first hallway.

"There was another gap up ahead, we should take this board with us and see if we can cross it," Feliciano said, turning to pick up the board they had walked back over. The two walked along the hallway to the other gap and Feliciano placed the board down.

"Perfecto! Yay!" Feliciano cheered. Lovino rolled his eyes and they crossed the gap. As they continued along they spotted more doors…and another gaping hole in the floor. It looked as though the only way across would be to go through the classroom. They pushed open the door and walked inside. Lovino and Feliciano inched across a narrow section of stable floor and froze.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" they screamed. Staring up at them with empty sockets was a skeleton. Feliciano shook violently, though he was better off than his brother who had leapt behind him to hide.

"S-so scaryyyy," Feliciano whimpered. Lovino, having realized there was nothing to be afraid of, stepped around his brother and walked over to examine the bleached bones.

"These…are real…." he said softly.

"Noooooo! Why? Why is there a skeleton in an abandoned school!?" Feliciano wailed.

"Y…ou….two…."

"WAAAH! What was that!?" Feliciano screamed. Lovino jumped back as a blue light rose from the skeleton.

"New….victims?" the light asked.

"UWAH! G-ghost!" Lovino shrieked.

"W-w-who are y-y-you?" Feliciano squeaked, trembling in terror.

"….I was brought here against my will….trapped…just like you…." the spirit replied.

"Where the fuck is here?" Lovino demanded.

"This is a….cursed place….many places….multiple planes of existence all at once…." The spirit explained. "Made by powerful….vengeful…spirits….Closed spaces. We are….the unlucky ones. Victims of an inescapable hell."

"That doesn't sound good," Feliciano whimpered.

"No kidding!" Lovino snapped.

"You are not the only ones….I sense many, many others," the spirit told them.

"You can? Are they are friends? Are they okay?" Felciano asked hopefully.

"I….I can't sense the number…however….they arrived at the same time as you. They are definitely here," the spirit said. Feliciano and Lovino exchanged relieved expressions.

"That means we can find them! Yay!" Feliciano cheered, clapping his hands.

"No….you cannot meet. They are here….but not….they are in another, separate, closed space. If you are determined to find them…you must connect the spaces. Though you should know…escape is impossible….But at least you will die together," the spirit explained. "That is worth fighting for….after all…your chances of finding an escape are better when you are with others."

With that, the spirit disappeared.

"Lovino….Huh? W-w-w-w-what is that!?"

Lovino followed Feliciano's pointing finger and saw what had spooked his brother. A small boy dressed in a ragged sailor shirt and tattered blue pants was standing by the teacher's desk. His head was tilted curiously, but the slight red haze emanating from him and the smile that was just a bit too wide caused the brothers to scream in fear and flee.

Feliciano and Lovino only stopped running when they noticed they hadn't been followed. They doubled over, trying to catch their breaths.

"That…was…freaky," Feliciano panted.

"Si…." Lovino wheezed. They both sighed and looked back down the stairs they had climbed. "We have to go back in."

"Whaaaat!? Why?" Feliciano whined.

"Because, stupid, that's the only way to get to the other side of the gap in the floor," Lovino snapped. Feliciano sighed and nodded.

"O-okay…" he agreed. Lovino stopped them though when he noticed another blue light floating by the staircase going up.

"Should we talk to that one?" Feliciano asked.

"M-maybe…maybe it can explain more about this place," Lovino said, helping Feliciano over.

"Hello?" Felciano greeted hesitantly.

"…If you die here, you relive the pain you felt when you died. Over….and over….and over….and over again….For eternity. There is no end….Oooaooahhh! The pain! Why? Why did I have to die like that!?" the spirit wailed before disappearing.

"What the fuck?" Lovino muttered. Feliciano tried not to think of his friends ending up like that. He didn't want them to die! Especially if they had to relive it forever.

"Hey! Calm down! Everything's alright, okay?" Lovino said, shaking Feliciano's shoulder. Feliciano took a deep breath and nodded.

"Y-yeah…you're right, Lovino. Like always, heh," Felciano said with a small smile. They walked back downstairs and stopped outside the classroom. Lovino peered inside and, when he saw it was empty, they entered the room. Feliciano noticed a pile of papers on the teacher's desk as they got closer. He was quite sure they hadn't been there before.

Feliciano looked the papers over and grimaced. The paper on top seemed to be a picture drawn by a child. It depicted several children running, being chased by one holding what looked like scissors.

"How creepy…" he muttered. Lovino tugged his shirt to make him keep walking. The two left the classroom and entered the second half of the hallway. Feliciano looked around as Lovino led him along. The school so far had very Victorian architecture – what was left of it anyway – so he assumed it must have been a very old school. There were still notices posted on the peeling, faded, walls. Most seemed to be something along the lines of "No running in the halls" or were torn up.

Lovino led them up to a door and pushed it open.

"L-Lovino…I have a bad feeling…." Feliciano said. Lovino merely grunted and walked in anyway. The classroom had barely any floor left. However, another skeleton was lying on a section that still seemed stable. The brothers approached it and Feliciano paled. On the floor, seemingly scratched in by someone's nails, was a message.

"'Whatever you do…do NOT read the newspaper'," Lovino read.

"A-alright, let's take its advice and just leave!" Feliciano urged, trying in vain to tug his brother towards the door.

"No, now I'm curious. Aren't you?" Lovino said, leading his brother over to the newspaper lying nearby on the floor. He scooped it up and began to read it aloud.

"Sunnyside Post. Breaking News: Serial kidnapping ends in murder. Sunnyside Middle School received shocking news today, as the gory details behind the disappearances of the missing children are revealed. This past month, authorities have been investigating the case of the missing children. Investigators have now found the children, though the results were more horrifying than anyone could have anticipated. The bodies of the missing children were found inside Sunnyside Middle School's basement on October 15th, at 7:00 pm. A teacher from the school was found with them. He was alive, but in a near catatonic state and was holding a pair of bloody scissors. The corpses appeared to have their tongues s_ed and re_ique mutilations too gro_g to describe…." Lovino paused and groaned. "The rest of it is too torn up to read."

"H-how horrible!" Feliciano exclaimed, tears running down his cheeks. "Those poor children."

"Y-yeah….I feel sick just thinking about it," Lovino said, dropping the paper.

_SLAM!_

"Huh!?"

Feliciano and Lovino turned to see the door had shut. They hurried over and tried to open it, but the door wouldn't budge.

"No! No! No! Please open!" Felciiano begged, rattling the doorknob in an attempt to open the door.

"Crap!" Lovino swore, kicking it. They moved to the back of the classroom, but there was no other door.

"I knew it! Lovino you shouldn't have read that paper! The skeleton told you not tooooooo!" Feliciano cried.

"S-shut up! Like you weren't curious too!" Lovino snapped. Feliciano shook his head, wiping at the tears.

"I t-t-told you to leave! Now w-w-were s-s-stuck here!" he sniffled. Lovino could hear a second set of sobs start up. He looked over his shoulder to see a minute trembling from the skeleton. He shivered.

"I-I-I told you I h-had a b-b-bad feeling," Feliciano whimpered. Lovino went back to the door and banged on it. Suddenly the door swung open. Lovino blinked in surprise; he hadn't actually expected that to do anything. Lovino grabbed Feliciano's arm and pulled him out.

"Lovi? Ow!" Feliciano yelped, feeling his ankle buckle.

"Fratello! Crap, sorry," Lovino said, looking a bit guilty. Feliciano shook his head.

"It's fine…I just need to rest for a little bit," he said, giving a pained smile.

"Don't worry…we'll find a place, okay? Then you can rest," Lovino assured him. Feliciano nodded and they headed down the hallway.

"Uhhhh…..Crap! No….I'm sure it's….Damn it!" Lovino cursed, patting himself over.

"Lovi? What's wrong?" Feliciano asked, brows furrowing in concern.

"I…I think I dropped that stupid piece of paper! From the doll," Lovino replied, grimacing.

"Oh….um…we can look for it later. It's not like we've been too many places, right? I'm sure we'll find it," Feliciano said reassuringly. Lovino nodded.

"Yeah…besides, your ankle needs to rest, and that's more important than a stupid piece of paper," Lovino replied. Feliciano gave a hum of agreement and they continued walking.

They passed another door that was surrounded by holes and headed right down another hallway. As the two carried on, the sound of buzzing flies reached their ears. Then the stench hit. Feliciano and Lovino gasped and clapped their hands over their noses and mouths. Given that it was the only way to go, they continued.

Feliciano shrieked as they turned the corner and found the cause of the horrid smell.

"It….It looks like…chunks of meat…." Lovino gasped. Feliciano gagged and turned his head away. It was certainly NOT animal. No. The bits of clothing clearly showed it had once been human.

"C-come on…we have to keep going. Try not to think about it, Feli," Lovino said. Feliciano nodded and they hurried past the massacre. Lovino spotted a door labeled 'Infirmary' and led Feliciano over. He tried the door but it was locked. Lovino swore loudly in rapid Italian.

"It's fine, Lovi. We'll find somewhere else. Look, there's stairs over there, so let's keep going," Feliciano told his brother. Lovino grumbled and they headed upstairs.

They spotted yet another corpse, though this one had some papers lying beside it. Feliciano picked them up as Lovino inspected the body.

"It says 'Everyone, let's meet by the entrance after school!' and is signed by someone named Emily," Feliciano said.

"Then this must be Emily," Lovino said, gesturing towards the uniform the corpse was wearing, and the strands of long hair surrounding it. They looked up to see a huge hole in the ceiling, bits of torn clothing hanging from it. "She must have…fallen through."

"But she has shattered ribs…it doesn't look like the fall killed her. Someone else killed her…" Feliciano replied sadly. Lovino closed his eyes momentarily before turning them and leading them away. Feliciano spotted a note on the wall as they walked.

"Admit it. You hate your friends. Eventually, you'll kill them all."

Feliciano shivered. A little further down was another note.

"I told everyone….that I would go with them…So why….why was I left behind? It hurts….hurts so much…"

They headed up a narrow hallway.

"If you wish to leave…you have to listen to the victims….It hurts…..it hurts so much…." a spirit called after them. Lovino and Feliciano glanced at the little blue light as they passed, but they didn't stop.

They came to a split in the hallway. Quite a few doors lined the walls on across from them. A corpse was crumpled against a wall, a paper clutched in one boney hand. Lovino walked over and took the paper.

"'My head…It's splitting! I can't take it! Can't take it! CaN't TaKe It! Back when we found Michael's body I saw a black shadow…It's AlL My FaUlT! I didn't tell them and now they're all dead! It killed them! I'm sorry! I'm so so-' and the rest is covered in…dried blood," Lovino explained.

"The body is so small. Maybe it's a middle schooler? The head is…cracked open…" Feliciano said, turning away from the body. Lovino pulled him away and they continued on.

A set of double doors they passed was nailed shut, so they didn't bother approaching them. The second door they came across ended up being fake. Lovino, however, spotted an open door and they entered the classroom. This one had a large gap crossing the entire room from one side to the other.

"Hey…there's something over there," Feliciano said, pointing to something shining on the ground. They walked over, but when they got close, it disappeared.

"What the fucking hell?" Lovino complained.

"It's over there," Feliciano said, pointing across the gap. They left the room and entered from the second door. Once again, when they approached the object, it disappeared.

"It's back over there!" Lovino snapped.

"Hey, what if I stand over there, and you stand here? Maybe we'll get it that way," Feliciano suggested.

"Huh…good idea," Lovino agreed. Feliciano limped out of the room and back down to the other side. When he got close to the object it stayed this time and he picked it up.

"So, what is it?" Lovino asked.

"A key!" Feliciano replied with a grin. Lovino left and returned on Feliciano's side.

"Great. Does it say what room it's for?" he asked. Feliciano lifted the tag that was attached to it.

"Hey! It's the Infirmary key!" Feliciano exclaimed happily. Lovino grinned.

"Excellent! Let's go. There's sure to be something in there you can rest on," he replied. Their spirits momentarily lifted, the brothers left the classroom and made their way back to the Infirmary. Lovino paused and looked a little guilty.

"Sorry…We need to find a bathroom first. I suddenly have to go," he said, looking embarrassed. Feliciano smiled kindly.

"That's okay, fratello. I can rest after you go," he replied. They passed the Infirmary, and the massacre, and up to where the other stairs were.

"There might be a bathroom up there. There haven't been any anywhere else," Feliciano said. Lovino looked around and spotted some more wide planks of wood. He picked them up and placed them across the gap. They both walked across and headed upstairs.

The two were happy to see, once they passed the corpse and turned the corner, that this area was indeed where the bathrooms were. Lovino and Feliciano headed into the boy's bathroom. The sinks all seemed to be clogged or broken, and the urinals were filled with…they didn't really want to know what. Lovino began trying the stalls but they were either locked or broken. They left the boy's bathroom and rounded the corner to go into the girl's bathroom.

Like the boy's bathroom, the girl's bathroom's sinks were either clogged or broken. They tried the stalls, which seemed to all have broken toilets. Until they reached the second to last stall. It opened easily and had a fairly clean toilet.

"I guess I'll use this one then. Wait outside for me. I'll be quick," Lovino said. Feliciano hesitated, then nodded. He wouldn't go far in case something happened and Lovino needed him. Feliciano left the bathroom and looked down at the bucket beside the door. He approached it and peered inside. Immediately he regretted his curiosity and reeled back with a squeal of disgust.

"Maggots! And rotting meat….Ugh!" Feliciano exclaimed, trying to not puke.

"Alfred!" came a faint shout. Feliciano jumped in surprise and looked around. The floor they were on was completely empty except for him and Lovino. But, that had sounded like….

"Mathew?" Feliciano muttered, wondering where the blonde Canadian was. But he didn't have time to think on it – Lovino had been in the bathroom for a while. Feliciano limped into the bathroom.

"Lovi?" he called.

"Yeah, yeah, don't rush me, stupid! I'm coming!" Lovino shouted back. Feliciano sighed in relief. The stall door opened and Lovino approached him.

"Alright, let's go to the Infirmary so you can rest," he said.

"Right," Feliciano agreed. As they left, he spoke up, "I heard Mathew's voice earlier."

"Who?" Lovino asked.

"Alfred's younger cousin," Feliciano replied.

"Oh, yeah. Did you see him?" Lovino inquired.

"No. It was very faint and I didn't want to go searching and leave you alone," Feliciano explained. Lovino hmphed an acknowledgement and they headed downstairs. They went back to the Infirmary and Lovino unlocked the door.

Compared to the other rooms they had been in, the Infirmary had the fewest holes in the floor and little debris. Lovino led Feliciano over to the beds in the corner of the room and Felciano gratefully sat down.

"The sheets seem to be mostly clean. I'm going to look for something to bind your ankle with," Lovino explained.

"Thanks, Lovi," Feliciano said, scooting over to the bed against the wall. It made him feels safer, for some reason.

Lovino walked over to some cabinets. He opened the doors and looked inside. There were numerous bottles of medicine inside. And luckily at the bottom, Lovino noticed some bandages and pieces of broken wood. He returned to Feliciano's side and began tending to his ankle.

"Thank you, Lovi. I really appreciate it," Feliciano said with a smile.

"Well, you're my brother. I can't just let your stupid self wander around this place with a sprained ankle. Who knows what kind of trouble we'd get into because of it," Lovino grumbled. Feliciano giggled.

"There, done," Lovino announced, sitting on the other bed.

"Yay! Now I'll be able to walk on my own," Feliciano said with a grin. He yawned and lay down. Lovino yawned as well, then frowned.

"Lovi, we should get some sleep while we're here," Feliciano suggested.

"Yeah, alright. Might as well," Lovino agreed. Things were quiet for a moment.

"Feli?"

"Yes, Lovi?"

"If we find the others…are you going to be all over that stupid potato bastard?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean! You're always practically glued to him!"

"Hehe, I guess….but you can't tell me you won't be just as happy to see Antonio."

"Hmph."

Feliciano rolled over to face his brother.

"Why are you unhappy?" he asked.

"Because," Lovino grumped.

"Because why?" Feliciano prodded. Lovino sighed and looked away.

"You won't spend as much time with me if you constantly cling to that bastard."

Feliciano's eyes opened in surprise. He smiled and wrapped his arms around his brother.

"You're silly, Lovi. You'll always be my brother, and I'll always love you. You don't have to worry about me ignoring you," Feliciano said. Lovino grumbled but accepted the hug.

"You better not ignore me," he muttered. Feliciano laughed.

"I promise," he said.

"ALLLLLLFREEEEEEEEEEEEED! Where are you?"

"That was Mathew!" Feliciano exclaimed, sitting up. Lovino rolled over and got up.

"I'll go look for him. You stay here and rest," he told Feliciano sternly.

"Are you sure?" Feliciano asked.

"Yes," Lovino said, and left the Infirmary. Feliciano waited on the bed, staring up at the cracked plaster ceiling.

'_I hope the others are okay…I'm sure Germany is fine. He's really tough and scary. I'm sure he'd scare of the ghosts, instead of the other way around….Same with Russia. But….what about Alfred? He's afraid of scary movies…Arthur's used to strange things…Hmmm_,' Feliciano thought. He sighed and got off the bed. Lovino had been gone a while. Feliciano walked over to the door and froze. The door was covered in long black hair, effectively sealing it shut.

"What in the world?" he muttered. Feliciano tried pulling the hair off, but it was completely stuck there. A giggle echoed around the room and Feliciano gasped in pain.

"My…my head! Ow! It hurts!" he exclaimed, pressing his hands to his head. Feliciano moved away from the door and walked across the room. The sound of a pen scratching against paper reached his ears. Feliciano followed the sound over to a desk where he saw an open journal. As he approached and intense sense of dread caused him to stop and backtrack.

"Peter….are you here to play?" echoed a female voice. Slowly a shadow appeared in the chair at the desk. It stood and Feliciano screamed. He ran to the door and clawed at the hair – but it was no use. Feliciano looked around. There had to be a way to get this hair off!

The shadow approached slowly and Feliciano darted around it. He began frantically searching the cabinets for something – anything - that could help. Eventually he found a bottle of rubbing alcohol.

"Oh! This…I could set the hair on fire! I just need something to make a flame with!" he told himself. Feliciano spotted a box of matches and scooped it up. He turned and shrieked. The shadow was right behind him. It reached out and Feliciano barely dodged it. He sprinted to the door and tossed the alcohol over the hair and struck a match. Feliciano flung the lit match onto the hair and it went up in flames.

The stench of burning hair filled his nostrils, but Feliciano ignored it and burst through the door. Once he escaped the room he doubled over and retched. He opened his eyes and saw spatters of blood on the floor. Had he…vomited blood? Feliciano paled.

"Feliciano!"

Feliciano looked up to see his brother rushing over to him.

"Feliciano, what's wrong!?" Lovino demanded.

"Lovi…" Feliciano sighed. "I'm fine. Fine….Did you fine Mathew?"

"No. Shouldn't you still be lying down?" Lovino asked. Feliciano shook his head.

"I was attacked! There was a scary black shadow! I nearly died. I was trapped in there with that thing!" he exclaimed, tears appearing in his eyes. Lovino touched his shoulder.

"But you're alright. You made it out. Let's just avoid that room from now on. Let's go," he said.

"Where? Where could we possibly go? There's nowhere else!" Feliciano cried.

"Feli?" Lovino asked.

"We've been everywhere! We're going to be stuck here forever! We're going to die some horrible death and repeat it over and over and it will never stop!" Feliciano snapped.

"Feli, calm down! We can't come up with a plan if you're like this," Lovino said, grabbing Feliciano's shoulders. Feliciano panted and sniffled.

"No…It's hopeless! There's no point in coming up with a plan! Didn't you hear those spirits? Who knows how long they've been here and they never found a way out!" he shouted. "I'm so tired! I can't stand it anymore!"

"Hey! You think you're the only one who's tired? Idiot! I'm tired too!" Lovino retorted. "I don't want to be here either!"

"How can you be so calm then? Or are you just glad we've been separated from everyone!? You always hated everyone!" Feliciano bawled. Lovino looked as though he'd been slapped.

"You…think I'm happy about this? That's what you really think?" he asked. Feliciano didn't respond. He couldn't believe he had said that. It wasn't true. Feliciano knew Lovino didn't think that way…so why had he said it? He had to apologize.

"Lovi…I'm so-" something caught in his throat, cutting off his apology.

"I know…you didn't mean it. I'm sorry too, fratello. Maybe…it's best to split up for a little bit, so we both cool down, yeah?" Lovino replied with a not-so-reassuring smile. Feliciano could only nod and watch as his brother walked away.

Lovino stood in one of the many hallways, looking down at the floor.

"Feli…we shouldn't have split up. This was a stupid idea," he muttered to himself. A sound caught Lovino's attention and he looked around. It came again and he recognized it as a voice. Someone was calling to him.

Feliciano ran. Where to, he wasn't exactly sure. His head hurt. It felt like there was something in his head, putting pressure on his brain.

"Lovi….Lovi…" Feliciano panted. "I'm sorry!"

When he finally came to a stop, he realized he was on the third floor, outside the bathrooms. A loud thunk and creaking noise sent a shiver up his spine. That sound hadn't been there before. Feliciano followed the noise into the girl's bathroom and over to the next to last stall. With dread swirling in his stomach, he pushed open the door.

"LOVINO!"

Lovino was hanging above the toilet, a rope around his neck. His hazel eyes were rolled back in his head, mouth dropped open.

"Lovino! NO! NO! Please….No! You can't! Why!?" Feliciano screamed.

"Gghhhaa….aggckkk…."

Feliciano gasped. Lovino was still alive!

"I….I'll help! Just wait a second! Please!" Feliciano exclaimed. He rushed forward and attempted to lift Lovino up.

"Hgggack!"

Feliciano stopped trying. He needed to find something for his brother to stand on. Feliciano darted outside the bathroom and picked up the bucket. The contents spilled out onto him but he ignored it and rushed back into the bathroom.

"Fratello! Here, stand on -"

The bucket clattered to the floor.

"Lo..vi…no? N-no…No! NO! NO NO NO NO NO NO!" Feliciano screamed, backing away from the stall. Lovino's lifeless body swung limply back and forth.

"UUUUUUUUUUWWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Feliciano dropped to his knees. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"


	3. Chapter 2

**AN:** Hello readers! I hope you're all enjoying this so far. Reviews are always appreciated so very much, so please leave lots. :) Also, if anyone has any idea how to make the page breaks show up on , I'd love to know, because they keep disappearing on me.

**Warnings:** Violence, gore, and scary moments :P

Chapter 2

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Mr. Vargas froze where he stood outside a classroom.

"That…sounded like Feli," he said to himself, feeling concerned. Mr. Vargas wasn't sure what to do. He turned and walked back into the classroom. Roma crouched in front of Yao who was shaking as he sat on the floor.

"Wang…it's alright. Please calm down," he said. Yao nodded slowly and took a deep breath. Ivan was watching worriedly.

"You…heard it too, right? The scream?" he asked. Mr. Vargas nodded.

"I did," he replied. "I'll go check it out. You two will stay here."

"Mr. Vargas…wait," Yao protested. Mr. Vargas hesitated and looked back at his students.

"Mr. Vargas, go ahead. I'll keep an eye on him, da?" Ivan said. Mr. Vargas nodded.

"Alright. Don't wander off. I want to be able to verify everyone's safety," he said and left the room. Mr. Vargas looked down both ends of the hallway. He was very worried about his students. It was his job to protect them, and already it looked like he was failing. Mr. Vargas frowned. He wouldn't give up. His students needed him.

Mr. Vargas carefully walked across the boards bridging the gap in the floor and headed up a flight of stairs, only to see the second flight was blocked off. Something shiny caught his attention and he bent down to pick it up.

"A key? Hmm…this will be useful later, no doubt," he muttered to himself. Mr. Vargas went back downstairs and headed down another hallway. He spotted a notice on the wall and, out of curiosity, he stopped to read it.

"'Return home immediately. All those who remain will go hungry and die of starvation'. How awful," he commented. Mr. Vargas frowned at the notice and left it, instead going to open the door to a classroom.

He examined the room and found, to his horror, a cabinet filled to the brim with human hair. Roma grimaced and quickly left it alone. He left the room and continued along the hallway. He found another door and tried to open it, but it was locked.

Mr. Vargas took out the key he had found and fit it into the lock. The door clicked open and he stepped inside. The room was even darker than the others. Or maybe it was his imagination. He traversed the broken floor and made his way to the other door. As soon as he approached the door slammed shut.

"Huh?"

Mr. Vargas was thrown back from the door, as if by an invisible force.

"Guh!"

A red light appeared in front of him.

"Sod off you bloody corporeal!" a voice came from the red flickering light. The room shook violently and before Mr. Vargas could move, the large wooden cabinet came crashing down on him.

"GAAAH!" he screamed in pain. The cabinet was crushing him from the chest down.

"Hah! Out of all the people in the world…the most horrid are you teachers!" the spirit snarled. "All any of you care about is your own well-being! You claim to be worried about your students! But that's a lie! You only care about the backlash you'll face if they get hurt!"

Mr. Vargas groaned in pain. He tried to move it off, but it was no use and only caused it to crush him further.

"You're all the same! I won't listen to your lies anymore!" the spirit shouted. Mr. Vargas looked up in confusion. "Whenever there are problems between the students, you never intervene! Why would you? You have to keep up appearances after all! You just pick out the 'troubled students' and chip away at them little by little, until they drop out or get expelled!"

"That's…not…true!" Mr. Vargas gasped out.

"I've never met a teacher who actually cared. Not even once!" the spirit ranted.

"You're…wrong," Mr. Vargas said with a frown. The cabinet seemed to get even heavier. "NGAH!"

"Heh….All of your students are destined to starve to death in this school…That is….if they don't succumb to depression and kill themselves first. There's no other option. They'll all die meaningless deaths, just like I did! And they definitely won't be thinking of you when they take their last breaths."

"Uuughhhh!"

"Any last words? I'll be sure to pass them on to your students as I end their lives."

"S-spare…m…."

"Heh….just as I thought….Hahahaha! You only care about yourself!"

"Spare…my…students!"

"W-what?"

"Spare my students!" Mr. Vargas demanded. "I don't care if I die, but don't you dare hurt them!"

"…Are you really still pretending to care about them? You filthy liar! You're going to experience the pain of your death for all eternity….And I'm going to crush you flat!"

Mr. Vargas wheezed in pain as the cabinet crushed him more.

"Now, beg me to spare you! That's what you really want….if you do…I might consider sparing your life."

"Spare my students! If you harm a hair on their heads, when I'm a spirit I'll make your afterlife even more miserable!" Roma shouted.

"You are stubborn aren't you?" the spirit mocked. Roma grunted. He was quite sure his ribs were breaking. Slowly, everything went black.

Yao and Ivan gasped in surprise as the classroom shook.

"Aiya!? Another earthquake!?" Yao exclaimed. Soon enough the shaking stopped.

"I am thinking it is over," Ivan stated. Yao stood and headed for the door.

"Yao?" Ivan asked, tilting his head.

"It's been too long. We have to go find Mr. Vargas," Yao said with a determined expression.

"But, what if he returns and we are gone, da?" Ivan pointed out.

"Don't argue with me! We are going," Yao snapped, opening the door.

"Wait! We should at least leave a note, da? In case he comes back and we are gone," Ivan suggested. Yao nodded.

"Good idea," he agreed. Ivan found a bit of chalk beside the chalkboard and began writing on the teacher's desk.

"I told him that we left to go find him and that if we miss each other, wait here and we'll be right back," he explained. Yao hummed in agreement.

"That works. Now let's go," he said, grabbing the end of Ivan's scarf and pulling him out of the room. They walked along the hall, across a wooden board serving as a bridge across the gap in the floor, and into a classroom. There was nothing particularly remarkable about it, so they left out the second door and came to a stop. The rest of the hallway's floor was completely gone.

"This must have been caused by the earthquake," Yao commented. They turned around and went back along the hallway.

"There are some stairs over there, Yao," Ivan said, pointing them out. Yao nodded and they headed up to the third floor.

There seemed to be a single classroom and a cabinet in the corner. Ivan and Yao opened the door and made to enter the room but something forced them back, causing them to land on their asses.

"Oof!" Ivan grunted.

"What the hell?" Yao demanded, jumping to his feet. Ivan got up and frowned.

"I am not seeing anything unusual. I wonder what that was," he muttered.

"Whatever. Let's just go. If we can't go in there, there's no point staying up here," Yao griped. Ivan nodded and the two went back downstairs. They passed the room they had left the message for Mr. Vargas in, and continued down the hall. Yao spotted a bucket off to the side and walked over.

"Oh! How gross!" he exclaimed, holding his nose and retreating.

"What is it?" Ivan asked curiously.

"Someone used that as a bathroom," Yao said. Ivan grimaced and the two kept walking. They went down the first flight of stairs when Yao made them stop.

"Hey, look! It is one of Arthur's silly candles," he told Ivan, walking over to it.

"Why would he leave that on the floor?" Ivan asked.

"Maybe as some sort of marker? Or as a way for others to find him?" Yao suggested. Ivan hummed.

"Sounds possible. We should keep an eye out for them from now on, da?" he replied. Yao nodded and they continued down the second set of stairs.

They walked through the hallway in silence. Ivan spotted a piece of paper on the wall and walked over to it.

"'Living friends who keep their sanity….are the only ray of hope here,'" he read.

"Come on, let's keep going. Don't lag behind," Yao scolded. Ivan smiled sheepishly and followed after his crush. As they walked along, they spotted lots of small shoes.

"Oh, look at how tiny they are," Ivan said incredulously.

"This was probably a Middle school or something, then," Yao replied. They walked through a set of doors and found themselves in the entryway to the school.

"Oh? Finding the exit was this easy? I was thinking this was to be a much harder thing to do," Ivan said with a grin. Yao approached the doors and tried to tug them open, but they might as well have been painted on.

"Aiya! You got to be kidding me!" Yao exclaimed. He gave a hard kick to the 'doors' but nothing happened.

"Careful, Yao. You'll hurt yourself," Ivan warned. Yao smacked his arm and marched angrily back the way they came.

"Oh, look! Another note," Ivan stated, spotting a notice by the doors. "'Each time you turn around, stop for a moment and ask yourself: is the world behind you still there?' How weird."

"Hmph. Let's go," Yao said snippily. Ivan shrugged and followed him out. They walked straight forward, passing more holes in the floor. Ivan nearly smacked into Yao, who had suddenly stopped walking. Ivan looked ahead and saw why. Several corpses were spread out along the hallway.

"EEEYYAAAA!" Yao yelped, leaping back against Ivan. "These….are human bodies!"

Ivan turned Yao around by the shoulders and bent down a little to look into his eyes.

"Yao? Are you alright?" he asked in concern. Yao nodded shakily.

"Y-yeah…I'm fine," he replied. Ivan let go of Yao's shoulders.

"Okay. Let us keep going, da? We still have to find Mr. Vargas," Ivan said. Yao took a calming breath and they passed by the corpses, which, just by glancing, seemed to have been high school students.

They came to a split in the hall and decided to try the left side first. Yao saw another, fresher, corpse and shivered. Ivan, not particularly bothered by the sight, did see scattered paper lying next to the remains. He picked them up.

"It says…hmm…'I ate my friend today. What else was I supposed to do? I was so hungry….We were both starving. There's no food here. So…we decided together that one of us should try to live a little bit longer. If I ever get back home I am supposed to tell everyone what happened. We left it all up to a coin flip. Loser eats the winner. I lost. I decided I wanted to keep some part of her with me even after she died. So I took one of her eyes'," Ivan read.

"That is disgusting!" Yao complained, face pale.

"I agree," Ivan said, putting the papers down. Yao shuddered and headed over to an open door.

"Let's…just look in here," he suggested. Ivan nodded and followed Yao into the classroom. It was by far the narrowest classroom either had ever seen. It was more like another hallway than a classroom, but the chalkboard deemed it such. Yao gasped and clutched his head.

"Yao?" Ivan asked.

"Urgh….There's….something wrong with this room…." Yao panted. Ivan looked across the room and saw a faint blue glow.

"There is something over there. We should look, da?" he asked. Yao nodded reluctantly. They began approaching the blue glow. When they got close enough, they saw it was a small boy, with two braided strands of hair, sitting with his arms around his knees.

"Stay back!" Yao exclaimed, grabbing Ivan's arm. Ivan wanted to protest since he had seen something glinting on the table past the child.

"Don't look in his eyes," Yao warned. Ivan looked confused.

"O-kay…why?" Ivan asked.

"Just don't!" Yao snapped. Ivan shrugged, but decided to listen. Being careful to not even look at the glowing child, he slipped past it and approached the table. He picked up the rusted nail-puller and looked it over. Ivan figured it could be useful and made his way back to Yao.

"Alright-y, let's go," he said with a smile. Yao frowned. Ivan followed him out of the weird room. They went down the right side of the hallway and came across yet another corpse. The long strands of hair and the uniform suggested it had been a female student. Ivan spotted a piece of paper in the skeleton's hand and plucked it from its boney grasp.

"Ah…this one is being difficult to read. 'Sister…why? It…hurts….it….hurts….After I die….the pain…continues forever…' Huh," Ivan said. Suddenly the skeleton burst into flames and in its place a red light floated forward.

"Sister…you…lied to me! You left me behind! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!" the spirit shouted. With a wail the light flickered out.

"This place is so creepy," Yao complained.

"Shut up you bloody frog!" Arthur shouted.

"Why don't you make me" Francis taunted, dodging a smack from the Brit. Arthur growled.

"I can't believe you sometimes! Honestly!" Arthur snapped. He tried to turn and leave in a huff, but a skeleton tripped him up and he fell to the ground.

"Ohonhonhonhon! Serves you right," Francis snickered. Arthur swore and got to his feet.

"Damn skeletons all over the place…" he grumbled. Arthur turned to give Francis a what-for, but froze. Francis tilted his head and raised an eyebrow.

"Arthur?" he inquired. Something in Arthur's eyes changed. With a blank expression, Arthur pushed Francis out of the way and walked off. Francis' eyes widened and he hurried after his frenemy.

"Mon dieu! What is wrong with him?" Francis muttered to himself. He rushed down the hall and through a doorway. Francis 'eeped' when he saw Arthur standing by a wall with a creepy grin.

"Stop it! You are freaking me out!" Francis yelled, waving a finger at Arthur.

"NO ONE IS SAYING THAT! Today is my son's birthday…he's turning twelve…We're going out together to celebrate. WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? AAAAHHHHHH! Why are you both looking at me like that!?" Arthur babbled, voice distorted. He gave a loud gasp and collapsed to his knees.

"A-Arthur?" Francis asked hesitantly. Arthur stood and turned to face him.

"Francis? What with that look?" he asked, raising a bushy eyebrow. Francis was bewildered.

"…You were being all weird. Weirder than normal, anyway," he replied. "You were talking strangely."

Arthur gave him a puzzled expression. Francis sighed.

"Whatever, let's just keep looking for the others, oui?" he said.

"Ah, yes, alright," Arthur agreed. He took out a candle and placed it on the ground. "There, now let's go."

Yao and Ivan walked back towards the area with the shoes when they spotted another blue glow.

"Is…that the child from before?" Yao asked.

"I think so, da," Ivan replied. The child turned and started walking towards them. As he got closer, they could see blood trickling from the spirit's mouth.

"Run!" Yao shouted. Ivan grabbed Yao's arm and pulled him along as he darted around the child and dashed for the stairs. When they reached the second floor they stopped to catch their breaths.

"I think we lost it," Ivan said, looking behind them. Yao nodded.

"Good," he replied.

"Oh, Yao, I remembered something," Ivan told his crush, smiling happily.

"What?" Yao asked.

"There was a door in the room we left the message in. Maybe we should try going through it. It might lead somewhere interesting, da?" Ivan replied. Yao gave a small shrug.

"It's not like we have anywhere else to look," he agreed. They headed into the classroom and over to the corner. Partially hidden behind a cabinet was a door. It was nailed shut.

"Ufufu, I knew this would come in handy," Ivan chuckled, taking the nail puller out from his coat. He pulled the nails out and pushed open the door. Yao followed Ivan inside the small, narrow room.

"Hey, there's some weird machine over there," Yao pointed out. Ivan walked over to the small metal machine. It had a lever, and what looked like a pulley system.

"Should I pull it?" he asked Yao.

"Hmm….I'm a little wary about messing with it, but maybe it'll be helpful," Yao replied. Ivan nodded and, though it stuck momentarily, yanked the lever down. The machine squeaked to life and vibrated slightly. Ivan and Yao watched the nearly invisible wires move across the ceiling and through a hole in the wall.

"I wonder what that did," Ivan muttered. Yao shook his head.

"I don't know, but since we already looked around this floor, and the third, maybe we should go back. Maybe the ghost left," he suggested. Ivan shrugged.

"I suppose we could. I don't know what else to do," he said. Ivan followed Yao out of the small room, and the classroom, and they headed back down to the first floor. Indeed, the spirit seemed to have disappeared. As they walked along they saw that the gap that had previously kept them from going further right now had a makeshift bridge.

"That is odd," Ivan commented. Yao gave a hum of agreement, but they crossed it anyway. The two followed the hallway to another set of staircases and headed up.

"Hey, an Infirmary. That is a lucky find. If we get tired later, we could rest there," Yao said, coming to a stop in front of the room. Ivan smiled.

"That is good idea, Yao. Are you tired now?" he asked. Yao gave him a look.

"No. Let's keep going. This is a new area," he replied before continuing along the hallway. Ivan pouted and followed after him. They followed the winding hallway, passed a science lab – which was locked – and up another set of stairs. On the landing was another corpse.

"It looks like a high school student, maybe," Ivan commented.

"An….der…sen….." moaned a voice. Yao grimaced.

"Stop looking at bodies. You're so weird," he chastised. Ivan merely smiled and followed Yao up the second flight of stairs. Yao stopped in front of a door and read the sign above it.

"Boy's bathroom. Oh, then the other door must be the girl's bathroom. This is also a good find. We have been incredibly lucky so far," he said happily.

"Almost too lucky, da? Maybe we should check them, to see if any are useable," Ivan replied.

"Ah, right," Yao agreed. They checked the boy's bathroom first. All the sinks were clogged or broken. Most of the stalls were locked, or had broken toilets.

"Suck ball! None of them are useable? How troublesome," Yao complained. Ivan grimaced. He supposed that if they needed to go, the girl's bathroom might suffice. They left the boy's room and walked over to the girl's. Yao came to a sudden halt outside the door.

"Yao? Are you being alright?" Ivan asked.

"…There's something not right about this room. I…don't think we should go in," Yao said, backing away from the door. Ivan frowned.

"Da…alright. Let's go then," he replied, taking hold of Yao's arm and leading him away. They walked back down stairs and along the hallway.

Ivan stopped and kept Yao from continuing.

"Wha? Ivan what do you - ?"

"Shh, look," Ivan interrupted. Yao peered around him and saw a young girl spirit walking into the Infirmary. Laughter and chatter wafted out from inside the room. One voice sounded somewhat familiar.

"Should we….see what it's doing?" Yao asked.

"Da," Ivan replied. They snuck carefully over to the door and peered inside. Ivan had to clamp a hand around Yao's mouth when they saw who was inside.

Sitting on the floor, between two child spirits, was Kiku. He seemed to be talking with them, though since one spirit had most of its head removed, Ivan wasn't sure how.

"I understand. I am quite fond of my school and classmates as well," Kiku said. Odd laughter echoed throughout the room.

"Kiku! Get away!" Yao shouted, finally getting out of Ivan's grasp. Kiku looked up and smiled.

"Hello, Yao-kun. Ivan-kun," he said.

"Kiku, you have to run! You are in danger!" Yao demanded. Kiku tilted his head to the side.

"What? That is not true. These kids are rather sweet," he replied. Ivan and Yao exchanged a worried and confused glance.

"Really. Here, read this," Kiku said, holding out a newspaper. Yao took the newspaper from him.

"'Sunnyside Post. Four children abducted – Follow-up Report. The brutal deaths of the recently kidnapped Middle schoolers have now been traced back to the teacher found in the room with them. The scissors in his possession have been confirmed to have been used to cut out the victims' tongues, ultimately leading to death through excessive bleeding or choking. One of the victims even had the majority of his head slowly and methodically removed. The Sunnyside Middle School students pictured below are the four who were found in that basement room. Of these children, one was _ when investigators arrived at the scene of the crime. He was _ in blood _' Hmm…the rest is too torn up to read," Yao said, looking a little ill. Ivan peered over Yao's shoulder to look at the pictures.

"Ah, these ghosts have the same uniforms and faces as these children," he commented.

"Now you see why I can't just ignore them," Kiku told them. "I…should stay with them…"

"That is not a good idea, Kiku. You really need to leave with us," Yao protested. Kiku looked down at his lap, then back up. He opened his mouth to speak when he was swiftly lifted off the ground and into the air.

"Wha!" he exclaimed, eyes wide.

"Kiku!" Yao shouted. The female spirit, who was missing one eye, grinned widely. Ivan and Yao gave yelps of surprise as they were thrown back. The child with most of their head missing gurgled happily. Kiku's body was dragged through the air after the children. Yao and Ivan leapt to their feet and chased after them. They heard a scream and a loud splat. Yao shouted in panic and ran faster. By the time Ivan caught up with the Chinese boy, Yao was on his knees, shaking violently. Ivan looked up and immediately wished he hadn't.

"That….couldn't…."

"KIIIIIIKUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" Yao wailed. On the wall in front of Yao, and the floor, was what could only be described as a massacre. Hunks of meat, flesh, and organs were splattered against the wall. Kiku's uniform was on the floor, covered in more gore.

"Yao! Don't look!" Ivan exclaimed, pulling Yao away and standing in front of him to block his view. Yao reeled away and retched on the floor. Ivan didn't know what to do.

"No! NO! I CAN'T TAKE IT!" Yao cried and ran off. Ivan's eyes widened.

"Yao! Wait!" he called. Ivan made to run after Yao but a sudden pain shot through his head and he collapsed. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was a bloody face staring down at him.

**AN:** I'll leave translation here at the bottom for everyone in any chapter where translations are needed. :)

**Translations:** Mon dieu = My god (French)


	4. Chapter 3

AN: Hope you guys were looking forward to chapter 3, 'cause here it is! Also, thanks for reviewing! Keep it up, we love it! :D

Warnings: Violence, some gore, and even more scary situations

Chapter 3

Ludwig smacked his fists repeatedly against the windows. He could see it was pouring rain outside, so why did it seem like the damned windows were painted on? Ludwig growled and picked up an easel and smashed it against the window.

"Sohn von einem Weibchen!" he shouted when the easel shattered and the window remained intact. Ludwig was already beyond pissed off at the strange school. He needed to get to Feliciano somehow. Ludwig was positive the little Italia was scared out of his mind, or in danger. Gilbert stood behind his younger brother and sighed.

"No sense in getting frustrated, kleiner Bruder. I'm awesome enough to find us a way out." he boasted, hands on his hips and chest puffed out.

"Yeah. You need to calm down. You'll only hurt yourself if you keep this up," Antonio agreed. Ludwig sighed and stepped away from the window.

"Yeah…alright. You're right. This whole situation just frustrates me," he replied, rubbing his temples. "It just seems like everywhere we look the doors are locked or painted on."

Gilbert walked over to a metal cabinet, noticing it seemed bolted to the wall. He smirked and rapped his knuckles on the wall, hearing a hollow sound.

"Then let's just not use a door," he suggested with a confident grin. Ludwig raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Dummkopf, listen." Gilbert rapped his knuckles on the wall again, the hollow sound echoing louder. "This cabinet is a secret door. Behold the awesomeness!"

He gripped the handle of the cabinet and yanked... The door didn't budge. Gilbert cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Behold...the awesomeness," he repeated, giving the metal handle a sharper tug. Nothing. Gilbert's eyebrow twitched and he turned to face the cabinet and gripped the handles harder. Ludwig shook his head.

"Even if we open it, it'll only lead to the room next door. We saw there was another side to this building out of the windows. That's where we need to go," Ludwig said, though he moved to help pull at the doors.

"Maybe one of the windows in there will break?" Antonio suggested. With the extra strength Ludwig provided, the metal doors finally squeaked open on rusty hinges. Not much could be seen in the dark that blanketed the inside, but that didn't deter Gilbert from grinning wildly.

"Ah! Behold the awesomeness!" he stepped inside and reached out blindly, his hands touching the cold, hard surface of another metal cabinet's doors. "Found the other room!"

Ludwig and Antonio followed Gilbert through to the other room. While this room was just as damaged as the art room, this one had musical instruments scattered about.

"Hopefully this door will work," Ludwig said. He made his way around gaps in the floor and over to the door. Ludwig gripped the handle and pushed open the door. "Finally!"

"Excelente!" Antonio cheered, hurrying after the blond. Ludwig looked around at the different hallways.

"I think I see some stairs ahead. Do you think we should go down first or check the rest of this floor?" he asked, looking back at Gilbert. Gilbert hummed in thought.

"We should check the rest of this floor then go down. We don't know where anyone else is, let alone your little Italian geliebte," The white-haired teen poked gently at his brother's affections for Feliciano. Ludwig flushed.

"Sh-shut up! Arschloch," he muttered, trying to ignore Antonio's snickering. Ludwig decided against going in the direction of the art room, and headed right instead. As the hallway narrowed Ludwig spotted a few shoes on the ground, and then, up ahead, the floor was covered in odd green slime. The shoes inside it seemed to be dissolving slowly.

"How odd. I wonder what that is. Whatever it is, it looks dangerous," Ludwig said. Gilbert stepped up next to Ludwig and looked at the slime, scrunching his nose in disgust.

"Let's go the other way. I'm awesome enough to know that is an acid of some kind."

He pulled on Ludwig's arm and pushed Antonio back. Down the hallway, seeming to hover over the green slime, was a ghost child cloaked in an eerie blue light. Its face was hard to make out but it appeared to be a young girl. Gilbert's red eyes widened as her small hands reached out toward them.

Ludwig noticed Gilbert's hesitation and glanced over his shoulder.

"What the hell?" he said with a frown. "Gil…I don't think you ought to look at her. Come on."

Ludwig pulled Gilbert towards the stairs.

"That's some creepy stuff right there. Was….that a ghost?" Antonio asked. Ludwig made a scoffing noise.

"It was probably a hallucination or something. How long has it been since we ate or drank anything? Ghosts don't exist," he replied. Ludwig led them down two flights of stairs to the first floor. There was yet another set of stairs, but he ignored it in favor of heading for the doors in front of them. He stopped however when they started to pass a bathroom. The doors were covered in strange occult symbols.

"This place is very odd," he commented. Gilbert nodded in agreement, looking at the symbols as they passed.

"That's putting it lightly," he mumbled. He wasn't sure if what he saw back in that hallway was a ghost or a hallucination. He wasn't even sure he believed in ghosts but what were the odds of all three of them seeing the _same_ illusion? Gilbert decided to push the thoughts out of his mind as he followed Antonio and Ludwig.

Ludwig pushed open the double doors and found that the room beyond was an entryway.

"Excellent. Maybe we can get to the other building," he said. As he reached the doors a shiver ran up his spine. Ludwig swore he felt someone watching them. He glanced around, but there was no-one but them. Frowning, Ludwig turned back to the doors and pushed them open.

"Ah! Yes! Fresh air," Antonio sighed happily, running ahead onto the walkway. Ludwig followed and looked over the fence. The school seemed completely surrounded by trees. Though it would be easy to simply hop the fence and leave, who knew how big the forest beyond was? It could stretch for miles, and he didn't even know where they were.

Ludwig shook his head. They couldn't leave anyway. Not without the others. He marched past Antonio and over to the other set of doors. He pushed them open and stepped into the second building.

Feliciano cried miserably on the floor of the bathroom - his body shook with the violent sobs and his breath hiccupped with each intake. He removed his hands from his face and pushed himself away from the stall, refusing to look at the body inside.

"L-Lovino... Why, mio fratello..?" Feliciano crawled across the tiled floor and into the hallway. He pushed himself up on weak arms and leaned against the wall, hiding his face against his knees as the waves of sobs came once more.

The eerily silent building seemed to echo the brunette's sobs and make them even louder. Suddenly, the labored cries were interrupted by a peppy ringtone. Feliciano looked down at his pocket and pulled out his vibrating phone with a shaky hand. He flipped it open and held it to his ear.

"…C-Ciao? *sniff* Lu-Ludwig…?" he asked hopefully. There was silence at first, then a whispering voice replied.

"Help me… Help me…"

Feliciano whimpered. He wanted to throw the phone away but his body seemed frozen in place. The voice continued but began to sound more urgent until it seemed to be crying. Then the line went dead.

Feliciano's body shook, both with sobs and fear and he finally threw his phone across the hallway with a scream of fright he hadn't known had been building in his throat.

"AHHHH! Ludwig! Lovino! Somebody!"

Matthew shook in fear behind Alfred. A blue light floated by the teacher's desk. Matthew didn't know where they were or what was going on. He really wished he had just walked home instead of waiting for his cousin.

Alfred's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his skull. Ghost movies were scary enough but now he was in one! He held his arms out in a protective stance in front of Matthew.

"I-It's alright, Matty... It's just a little light..." Alfred's voice shook as he tried to maintain his hero status.

"I can sense….others like yourselves….eleven others," sighed the light. Matthew yelped in surprise and clung to Alfred's back. "Poor souls…..pulled here against their will…."

Alfred swallowed hard and looked at the door next to the desk. He pushed on Matthew's side gently, nudging him toward the door as he kept his eye on the light.

"Y-Yes...poor us..." he replied.

Matthew whimpered and followed Alfred's lead, moving slowly to the door.

"….I will give you….this warning…..do not try to upset the balance. Do not bring the wrath of the school down upon you…" the light said before flickering out. Mathew blinked.

"Is….is it gone?" he asked quietly. Alfred let out a breath of relief and chuckled weakly.

"Guess it couldn't handle being in the presence of such a great hero like myself." he turned to look at his scared cousin.

"Come on, dude, let's get outta here."

Matthew nodded emphatically.

"Y-yeah, good idea," he agreed, heading for the door. Matthew had been so terrified he was sure he'd nearly wet himself. He was very glad he hadn't.

Alfred opened the door with little resistance and looked down both directions. It was hard to see but he could vaguely make out some holes in the floor no matter which way they took. He stepped out into the hall, tugging Matthew along.

"I think we are alright, man. Just stick close, 'kay?"

Matthew nodded.

"I will," he said. Matthew followed Alfred to the left. They came to another classroom and walked inside. Mathew screamed.

"S-s-s-skeletoooooon!" he wailed, backing up hastily. Alfred yelped and followed suit. He looked back into the room at the skeleton laying against an overturned desk. There was some kind of note next to it. Mustering up all the bold heroism he could, Alfred stepped in and picked the paper up.

"'For the suffering I have endured, may they all parish in the Devil's flames'..." Alfred's face paled and he gulped as he let the note fall to the floor.

"Heh, what a joke..." he said rather unconvincingly. Matthew whined and grabbed Alfred's arm.

"L-let's go. This room is freaking me out," he complained quietly. Mathew went for the other door, but cried out in fear when he saw yet another corpse. On the floor beside it was carved the words 'Kill me' over and over again. Matthew shouted and ran from the room.

"Wait! Matty come back!" Alfred ran out of the room after his cousin. He looked back and forth down the hallway. "Mathew! Come on, man where are you?!"

Matthew yelped as he teetered at the edge of a hole. He wind milled his arms and fell back on his ass with an 'oof'.

"Alfred!"

Alfred turned down the hallway and caught up to Matthew. He quickly pulled the quiet blonde away from the hole in the floor and wrapped his arms around him.

"Are you alright, man? Don't run away like that! You scared me!" he scolded. Matthew panted for a moment before catching his breath. He looked back at Alfred.

"I'm sorry, Alfred. I was just so scared," Matthew apologized. Alfred smiled crookedly and ruffled Matthew's hair.

"Hey, now, no reason to be scared when you got a kick ass hero like me to protect ya."

Matthew hummed and nodded, though he wasn't so sure. He knew Alfred was afraid of scary movies. Though…he had been rather calm so far.

"Right," he said. Matthew looked around and his brows furrowed in worry. "Alfred….do you think we'll ever make it out? Do you…think we'll all die here?"

Alfred punched Matthew's arm playfully.

"What are ya talking about, man? Of course we're gonna get outta here," he said with a smile. Matthew smiled back. Normally he found Alfred's hero act annoying. Now, however, it was rather comforting.

"Alright. I believe you. We…have to find everyone else and get out. I can't…be afraid of everything," he said determinedly. Alfred clapped him on the back with a thumbs-up.

"That's the spirit, Matty!"

He turned them around and down the opposite hallway. He hoped they ran into some of the others sooner rather than later.

Matthew tried to stay confident as he followed Alfred. He suddenly came to a stop. Matthew wanted to be of some use to his cousin. He couldn't do much, but, maybe this would make up for scaring him earlier.

"Alfred…" he spoke up. Alfred stopped and turned to look at the quiet blonde.

"Yeah? What's up?"

Matthew reached into his backpack and pulled out his favorite stuffed polar bear, Kumajiro.

"I want you to keep this with you…while we're here. It's my good luck charm," he said, holding it out. "I know you don't like scary things either. So maybe keeping this with you will help."

Alfred blinked in surprise then smiled.

"Aw, that's sweet of you, Matty, but you should keep it. Besides," he wrapped his arm around Mathew's shoulders, "if we are together it should bring us both good luck."

Matthew hesitated.

"Are you sure? I don't mind," he asked. Alfred chuckled and ruffled Matthew's hair again.

"Yeah, man, don't worry about it. I'm sure we'll be fine."

Matthew nodded and put the stuffed animal away.

"Okay," he said, though he felt a little uneasy. Matthew followed Alfred down a flight of stairs. The landing had a huge hole in the center. "Oh, no. There's nowhere else to go."

Matthew gave a shout of surprise as the entire building began to shake horribly. Alfred yelped and he grabbed the railing tightly.

"Matthew! Brace yourself! Quickly!" he ordered, having to shout over the sound of the violent shakes. Matthew grabbed the railing as well, though he still fell to his knees. Just as quickly as it started, the shaking stopped. Matthew opened his eyes slowly and sighed. They were alright. He looked around and noticed a bit of floor from above had fallen down to close the gap in the floor.

"Oh! How lucky, eh?" Matthew said. Alfred blinked.

"Whoa! Yeah, lucky is right! Damn, that toy of yours really works, dude," he chuckled, helping Matthew up. Matthew laughed softly and gratefully accepted the help. He walked carefully across the new floor and followed his cousin down the stairs. Almost immediately they were greeted by the sight of another corpse. Matthew shivered but otherwise was fine. However, his composure was suddenly shattered at the sight of a semi-transparent child standing ahead of them.

Alfred swallowed the lump in his throat and stood in front of Matthew. He wasn't sure if they should say anything or if they should just ignore the child.

"Why ihhh you kihh me?" the small boy asked, taking a step towards them. Matthew yelped.

"Oh god! Did you see!? His tongue…it's…." he couldn't finish his own sentence. Matthew felt like throwing up. Alfred's eyes widened and he clapped a hand over his own mouth to keep from retching. The boy's tongue had been cut out! Alfred quickly pushed Matthew back up the stairs.

"Hurry, Matty, get back up the stairs!" he urged, trying to block his cousin from the ghost child.

"Youuhhhhhh wihhhh payyyyyy!" the child wailed after them. Matthew shrieked and sprinted back up the stairs.

Arthur set down another candle in the Infirmary. His head had been hurting like mad since the strange incident earlier. Was it possible he'd been possessed? Based on what the frog face had told him, it seemed highly probable.

"So, Francey-pants, do you want to rest here for a moment or keep looking for the others?" Arthur asked, crossing his arms across his chest. Francis ignored the name and grinned haughtily.

"Well, the way you are acting after that weirdness, I'd say we stay here for a while, then go find the others, bien?"

The blonde sat on one of the beds as if to close the discussion without an answer. Arthur huffed.

"Fine," he muttered. Arthur walked over to the sink in the corner and turned the handle. Nothing. He supposed he should have expected that. Arthur glanced around and spotted a chart on the wall. Looking at it closely, he noticed all the pictures of the organs were painted over in what looked like actual blood. Paling, Arthur walked over to where Francis was sitting.

"You've been calm about this whole situation. Why?" he asked, sitting beside Francis. Francis chuckled lightly, turning to lean back against the wall in a very relaxed position.

"Eh, when I lived back in France I heard a lot of ghost and horror stories. I even told some. This is not all that scary after those," he replied. Arthur shook his head. He had been a fan of horror and occult stories as well, but this was still frightening. Not that he'd admit it to the frog.

"I guess. Heh, I bet Mr. Hero is pissing himself from fright though," Arthur chuckled, though there wasn't the usual bite to his mocking. Francis raised an eyebrow and a smirk fell on his lips.

"That would be very likely, the crétin. By the way, I noticed you, Mr. Dark Magic himself, seem to be quite frightened as well~," he sang in a mocking tone. Arthur's face turned red and he quickly punched Francis in the arm.

"I am not, you damn frog!" he snapped. To prove his point, Arthur stood and marched out of the Infirmary with a determined expression. He'd show Francis he wasn't scared. Bloody prick.

Francis' eyes widened and he quickly jumped off the bed and ran after Arthur. He was just kidding around. He was actually very unnerved by everything that had happened.

"Hey, get back here, dumb-dumb. I was just kidding."

Arthur briefly glanced back over his shoulder as he continued along the hallway.

"Whatever. It doesn't matter. We can't be wasting time in there when we have to find everyone else. Or at the very least an exit," he replied sharply. Francis sighed and caught up to Arthur. Honestly, Brits were so uptight.

Arthur sighed and stepped around a corpse. There were so many dead bodies in the school it was a bit ridiculous. He looked up and froze. Standing not too far way, was a young lady with long blonde hair – a purple ribbon was tied over it like a headband. Her violet eyes were dull, almost dead looking.

Francis stopped in his tracks when he saw her and gulped. There was something very wrong with this girl... She just stood there, her eyes fixed on the two.

"You've just arrived at this school. Haven't you?" her voice was an eerie whisper. Arthur blinked and came to his senses.

"Uh, yes…I assume you've been trapped here too, then?" he replied awkwardly. The girl's head shook almost roboticaly.

"No. Actually, I died here quite a while ago. I was...searching for someone very important to me..."

Arthur wasn't sure how to react to that.

"Oh. I'm sorry. Um…Wait, searching for someone? You mean you came here voluntarily?" he replied incredulously. The girl nodded once.

"Da."

Francis hummed in thought and looked at the girl. He didn't recognize her uniform but she herself looked a little familiar. Arthur frowned for a second.

"Forgive me rudeness, I haven't introduced myself. I am Arthur Kirkland, and this oaf is Francis Bonnefoy. And, you are?" he said, smiling as politely as he could. This ghost seemed sensible at least, but it was best to try and be polite with otherworldly beings.

Francis elbowed Arthur in the ribs, both for calling him an oaf and also because he didn't quite trust this girl. The girl blinked once then gave a small incline of her head.

"Nice to meet you. My name was Natalia..."

Arthur's eyes widened.

"Natalia…that name sounds familiar. Wait! That blog I found the ritual on…You wrote it?" he exclaimed, looking rather delighted. If the person who wrote about the ritual was here, maybe she could help them escape. Francis' eyes widened and he grabbed Arthur's shoulders.

"You found that stupide spell on an internet blog?! What is the matter with you?!"

Natalia watched the scene with glazed-over eyes.

Arthur frowned.

"I find lots of spells that way. Besides, like I said, it seemed harmless enough," he said, pushing Francis' hands off himself. Arthur looked back to Natalia. "You must know a way out? Right?"

She stared blankly.

"That is not something I can talk about. I apologize. The greater concern now are your friends..."

Arthur wanted to ask her to elaborate on why she couldn't just tell them, but refrained.

"You've seen our friends? Can you tell us how to get to them, then?" he inquired hopefully. Natalia blinked slowly.

"Before I died in this place, I searched high and low for a means of escape. I learned that these closed spaces were given the form of Sunnyside Middle School through the sorrow and agony of its many victims. They were victims of an incident that occurred thirty years before our time..." Her voice was monotone, almost as if she were reading. "Four innocent children were kidnapped, with broken bodies later found in this building. Those are the ones giving shape to this nexus..."

Francis raised an eyebrow in confusion and looked at Arthur. Arthur frowned.

"I heard our school had been built over a middle school…but I hadn't heard of the kidnapping before. Natalia, is there a way to get through these spaces?" he replied. Natalia looked indifferent as she spoke again.

"Da, my theory is the key seems to lie with those children. If they can be put to rest, there may be a way out. Without sorrow and agony to sustain them, these spaces will start to break down...All the pointless suffering will come to an end, and we'd be released from this Hell..." her voice hissed the word Hell with a venom that made Francis shift uncomfortably. Arthur grinned, completely missing – or ignoring – the creepy vibe emanating from the girl.

"That's brilliant! How do we put them to rest?" he asked. This would all be over soon. Arthur was sure of it. Natalia lowered her head slightly, her light bangs creating a shadow over her eyes.

"Give them closure, naturaĺna. They need remorse or regret from the one who killed them," she stated. Arthur nodded. That made sense.

"Then we'll find the killer. Thank you, Natalia. I appreciate your help," Arthur said with a grin. He turned and began to walk away. "Come, Francis. We have a murderer to find!"

Francis looked at Arthur like he was crazy. He gave one last look to Natalia, who waved slowly, and followed after Arthur with a shudder.

"Hey, that girl was creepy, no? I don't think we can trust her." he warned. Arthur raised a giant eyebrow.

"I admit, talking to a dead person is creepy, but she didn't seem untrustworthy. She told us how to find our friends, that's what's important. Once we reunite with everyone, we'll find a way to escape. Maybe by then she'll be able to tell us," he replied. Arthur didn't know what the killer looked like, but, since it had been a teacher, he should certainly stand out among the children here. Arthur hurried down the stairs, practically taking two at a time.

Francis set his jaw in agitation and hurried after Arthur.

"What reason would she have to help us though? She's dead! She wouldn't care if we live or die, no?"

Arthur sighed.

"But she was alive once. It's not like she's done anything against us. I don't see why you're so hung up about this," he said, shaking his head. Arthur let out a yelp of surprise and stopped walking. There was…a voice in his head. But where was it coming from.

"Give me…back my head…" the voice said, sounding oddly high-pitched. Arthur looked around wildly.

"Where in the world is that coming from?" he asked, mostly to himself. Francis raised an eyebrow.

"Where is what coming from? You're creeping me out, Brit!" he replied. Arthur ignored Francis and continued looking for the source of the voice.

"Hmm….Ah!" he exclaimed. Arthur knelt down next to a corpse and picked up the thing lying beside it. Arthur was sure this headless doll was what had been asking for a head. "How odd. I wonder where its head could be?"

Francis rolled his eyes and grabbed Arthur's arm.

"Come on, weirdo, no time to play with dolls."

Arthur pulled his arm away.

"I'm not playing! This doll was asking for its head. We have to find it," he said, frowning. Francis sighed and hooked his arms under Arthur's, dragging him away.

"I think this place has gone to your head, magic boy. Dolls can't talk."

Arthur struggled but could not pull away.

"Unhand me you git!" he shouted. "I'm not crazy! This doll told me to give its head back!"

Francis kept a good hold on Arthur despite the blonde's struggles.

"You said our friends were top priority, so much so that you take advice from some creepy ghost chienne and then you drop everything for some dumb old doll? Oui, you aren't crazy at all." he replied sarcastically. Arthur was about to retort when a voice cut him off.

"…Body…Return….my body…." called an eerily high-pitched voice. It was somewhat faint. Arthur couldn't tell where it had come from.

"Return….my…body…"

"See!? I'm not crazy!" Arthur proclaimed smugly. Francis dropped Arthur with wide eyes. Where was that voice coming from?! He looked around and began to get a shiver up his spine when there was no one around them.

"W-What the hell is going on?!"

"Ow! You bastard!" Arthur complained, rubbing his ass as he stood. He looked around again.

"My body…" the voice pleaded. Arthur hummed.

"It sounds like it's coming from upstairs?" he said, though he was still somewhat unsure. Arthur didn't bother waiting for Francis' thoughts on the matter before heading for the staircase.

"Return….my….body…."

Arthur reached the landing when he spotted it – a small doll's head lying in the corner.

"Ha!" he exclaimed, picking it up. Francis ran after Arthur in a frenzy.

"Hey, come back! Don't go toward the voice!" he cried. Arthur wasn't even listening as he attached the doll head to its body.

"There you go," he said happily.

"To have killed children so brutally. I was not in my right mind. I did not want them to die. I was scared. I am so sorry. I am so sorry. So very sorry," the doll spoke, its voice high pitched and robotic. "I am a good person. I am so sorry. I am so sorry. So very sorry."

Francis blinked in surprise. Was this doll holding the murderer's spirit? How did that happen? He reached forward and gripped Arthur's shoulder.

"Ok, you gave the body back. Now let's get out of here," he urged. The doll continued to repeat its apology. Arthur grimaced.

"It's kind of creepy. But…I think I need to hold onto this for now," he said, sticking it in his pocket. "Maybe one of the ghost kids will like it and leave us alone?"

Francis' eye twitched.

"I think you like it, magic boy," he mumbled. Arthur glared at the Frenchman.

"What do you mean by that?" he demanded. Francis glared back.

"Creepy speaking doll, creepy black magic boy. They go together, no?" he prodded. Arthur grit his teeth.

"Oh? Well then, I suppose you must love all the dead bodies around here. They can't protest when you grope them!" he snapped back. Francis growled.

"You think I would disturb these girls' rest? How stupide can one get?!" he humphed. Arthur pushed Francis.

"Why don't you sod off, Frenchie!? If anyone is stupid here, it's you!" he retorted. Francis pushed back harder.

"Look who's talking, Brit! You were the one stupid enough to try a black magic ritual from some dumb fille's online blog!"

Arthur pushed him again.

"I didn't think it would do anything! None of my spells do! I thought it would just help us all stay friends!" he shouted. "I don't know why I wanted that anymore! I can't stand you!"

Arthur turned and stomped up the stairs. Francis blinked in surprise and took a step back. He wasn't expecting that... He watched Arthur disappear up the stairs. Francis knew he and Arthur butted heads regularly but that's what made up their relationship. It was...fun.

Francis sighed and hurried after Arthur.

"Arthur? Come on, I'm sorry. Alright?" he called.

Arthur could hear Francis calling for him, but he ignored it.

"Stupid frog!" he muttered angrily to himself. Arthur didn't need Francis reminding him this was all his fault. He knew it was because of his obsession with magic that they ended up in this hell. But…he was trying to fix it. Arthur growled and wiped at the small tears beginning to form in the corners of his eyes. "Stupid, damn, irritating bastard."

"Gihhrrggggg!"

Arthur froze. He turned slowly and nearly had a heart attack. What appeared to be a child spirit was 'watching' him. He couldn't be sure though because the entire top half of his head was gone.

"Urrlllgglll!" the child gurgled and began to approach.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. So very sorry."

Arthur's eyes widened. That's right! The doll! Arthur pulled the doll out of his pocket and held it out.

"Here, listen! Don't you hear it? He's sorry," he said. The child stopped and made a quiet gurgle. Francis finally reached the top of the stairs and hurriedly looked around for Arthur. He froze when he saw the blonde with a ghost child. Francis ran to Arthur.

"Get away from it!" he warned, yanking Arthur out of the way and making him drop the doll.

"What the Hell are you thinking?" he scolded, a hint of relief coating his voice as he trapped Arthur in his arms.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. So very sorry," the doll chanted from the floor.

"Francis?" Arthur asked, somewhat bewildered.

"URLLLLLLLLLLLLGGGGGGGGG!" the child attempted to wail and the doll burst into flames.

Francis pulled Arthur and himself away from the flames and around a corner.

"Ugh, you need to think these things through, Arthur. I can't always look out for you," he replied, locking eyes with the Brit. Arthur frowned.

"I had everything under control," he protested, decidedly ignoring the wails of the ghost child as it disappeared. Francis raised an eyebrow and released the blonde.

"Sure you did," he retorted with a shake of his head.

**Translations:** Sohn von einem Weibchen = Son of a bitch (German), kleiner = younger (German), Dummkopf = idiot (German), Geliebte = sweetheart (German), Arschloc = asshole (German), naturaĺna = naturally (Polish?), chienne = bitch (French), fille = girl (French)


	5. Chapter 4

**AN:** Hey, here's chapter 4 for you all!

**Warnings:** Violence, gore, scary stuff.

Chapter 4

Ivan groaned in pain. Slowly his eyes opened, though there wasn't much difference between them being open or closed. His head hurt like hell. Ivan sat up and looked around. He seemed to be in a small cell-like room.

"Hehehehehe….."

Ivan turned and saw a semi-transparent girl with a side-ponytail. Her left eye was missing.

"Hahahahaha!"

Another child appeared. The boy grinned at him. Ivan stood and backed away. Laughter echoed around the room before the two disappeared. The door swung slowly open. Ivan blinked in surprise and peered out. He couldn't tell where he was, other than it was yet another hallway.

"Yao?" Ivan called. He didn't receive a response. Ivan frowned and stepped into the hallway. That's right….Yao had fled the scene of Kiku's murder, and he had been knocked out. Ivan set off down the hallway, ignoring the blood dripping down his face. He had to find his precious Yao.

Matthew followed Alfred throughout the winding hallways. He spotted a piece of paper on the wall, though he didn't even consider going over to it, since it seemed to be written in blood. Matthew's eye widened when he spotted something shining in a cabinet.

"Alfred, wait a second," he said, reaching out to grab Alfred's arm. Alfred turned to look at his cousin.

"Huh? What's wrong, man?"

Matthew pointed at the cabinet.

"There's something in there. I think we should check it out," he explained, already heading over. Matthew wiped away the dust on the glass windows and peered inside. "I think…it's a key!"

He pulled at the door but it refused to open. Alfred looked in as well.

"Whoa, man! It _is _a key!" he pulled Matthew away from the door with a cocky grin. "Let the hero handle this, Matty."

Alfred grabbed a hold of the handles and gave a good, sharp tug. Nothing happened at first but with another few tugs, the doors pulled open. Matthew reached in and picked it up.

"It's kind of small," he commented. "I wonder what it opens?"

Alfred stopped flexing his biceps and gloating to no one long enough to look over Matthew's shoulder at the key.

"Hey, you're right. Maybe it goes to a cabinet or something like that?"

Matthew shrugged.

"Who knows? But, it's something," he said with a small smile. Alfred smiled back and nodded.

"Come on, let's go find the others."

Matthew, feeling a little better about their progress, walked happily after Alfred.

It seemed like hours had passed when they came across a strangely wide, un-broken hallway. Following it to the end Matthew was surprised to see double doors. Looking through their windows showed they led outside!

"An exit!" he exclaimed, pulling at the doors. They were locked. "No!"

Alfred pulled at the doors as well, hoping their combined strength would open it. After the doors refused to give, Alfred began to pound on the windows.

"Come on! Break already! You stupid doors!"

Mathew looked down at the lock and got an idea. He pulled the key from his pocket and tried it.

"It worked," Matthew said, eyes wide in surprise. He turned the key and the doors clicked open. Matthew pulled them open and stepped out onto the walkway. Alfred blinked in surprise then hugged Mathew in a crushing hug.

"You're awesome, dude! You freed us!"

Matthew beamed at the praise. He'd done something useful!

"I can't believe it was so easy," Matthew replied. "I thought for sure…"

His joy dissipated some when he noticed the forest just beyond the fence. The trees were huge and the forest looked very dark. When the downpour was added to it, Matthew wasn't sure how well things would go if they tried to escape that way.

Alfred followed Matthew's line of vision and his smile fell. How were they supposed to find their way through _that_?

"Aw, man! It just couldn't be that easy." he grumbled, letting go of Matthew and crossing his arms over his chest in a pout. Matthew sighed sadly.

"I'm sorry. I think I jinxed it," he mumbled. Matthew looked down the walkway to see another set of doors. "And I think this school is bigger than it first seemed."

Alfred sighed and ruffled Matthew's hair affectionately.

"Eh, don't worry about it, dude. We'll find our way out," he reassured with a smile. Matthew smiled up at Alfred.

"Thanks. I don't know what I'd do without you, Alfred," Matthew said, giving his cousin a quick hug. He turned and walked over to the doors. They opened easily and Matthew stepped inside.

Immediately it was apparent this building was bad news. The air was heavy and stifling and Matthew yelped in pain as his head began to feel like it was splitting.

"Oww! My head…." he whined, clutching it tightly. Alfred grabbed his cousin's shoulders and pulled him back out of the doorway.

"Matty! Matty, dude, what's wrong?!"

Suddenly, Alfred's head was killing him! It felt like something was pulling his skull apart. He cried out in pain but continued to attempt to pull himself and his cousin out of the building.

Matthew shook his head.

"That building…I don't know what it is…but I think it's causing the pain…." he said, though he made to go back in. "We have to check it out, Alfred. What if your classmates are in there, eh? It's the only place we haven't looked."

Alfred quickly yanked Mathew back by his wrist.

"You aren't going back in there, man! You stay here and I will check it out."

Matthew grabbed hold of Alfred's hand.

"No! I won't be left alone!" he exclaimed, eyes wide in panic. "Please…I'd rather deal with some headache than be left out here."

Alfred sighed.

"Matty... I'm the hero here. I have to protect my little cousin," he grinned. Matthew clung to him even more.

"Then let me go with you. I'll be safer with you than I would be on my own," he pleaded. Alfred really didn't like the situation but there was no arguing with Mathew when he got like this. Alfred nodded once.

"Alright, dude, you can come with me. Just be careful. And if your head starts to hurt too much, let me know."

Matthew sighed in relief and nodded.

"Yes. Thank you," he replied, following Alfred inside. The pain hit again, but Matthew grit his teeth and dealt with it. He wouldn't let Alfred go alone.

Matthew looked at the many shoes on the floor. It was such an odd occurrence, seeing so many shoes in the school. He noticed two doors on opposite ends of the room.

"Which…which way should we go?" Matthew asked. Alfred growled in pain.

"Ugh...The-The left..." he groaned. He too had noticed all the shoes and found it odd but decided to leave them be. He pulled Mathew to the left door and pushed it open. Matthew noticed the strange door with the symbols but decided it would be best to ignore it. Instead, he debated whether they should go up the stairs, or down the other set of stairs.

"Maybe we should check upstairs first?" Matthew suggested. He really didn't want to go downstairs. If there was a basement, he didn't want to go in. Alfred looked at the stairs leading up and shivered. There were cracked steps and part of the railing was missing.

"No way, man. Let's go down then work our way up." he walked towards the stairway leading down. It was dark but it looked intact. Matthew grimaced but followed after his cousin. He was quite happy to see that the landing below was as far as they could go. He was not so happy to see a corpse lying by the wall.

"I wish there weren't so many of them," Matthew sighed, looking away. He spotted a piece of paper nearby and picked it up.

"'Sarah….I'm so sorry. I should never have found that charm. It's all my fault that we ended up in this nightmare. If you are reading this, please forgive me. If someone else is reading this….please, find Sarah and help her get out. – Margaret'," Matthew read. He let the paper fall from his hands. "That's so sad."

Alfred nodded, looking at the note.

"Yeah, that is really sad. I wonder if this Sarah chick is still alive. I haven't noticed anyone else around here," he wondered aloud. Matthew nodded.

"Yeah," he agreed, heading back up the stairs. Matthew wasn't sure if it would be better if that girl's friend was still alive or not. This place was horrible. Maybe it was better if the suffering ended sooner, rather than later. Matthew frowned at himself for thinking such things. It would do no-one any good if he started thinking so pessimistically.

Alfred noticed his cousin's frown and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, you alright, man?" he asked worriedly. Matthew nodded.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine," he said, giving his cousin a small smile. "You know…considering the circumstances, heh."

Matthew walked with Alfred up to the second floor and through a door. The hallway split and Matthew peered down both directions.

"Hey…Alfred, are you hearing that music? It sounds like a piano," he asked. Alfred took a moment to listen and he blinked. Who would be playing a piano in this place?

"Yeah. Hey, maybe it's that Sarah girl!"

Matthew highly doubted it.

"Yeah, maybe," he said. Matthew walked over to the music room's door and pushed it open. Just like every other room, this one was broken down as well. The only thing completely intact was the piano in the corner. Matthew walked inside – the piano still playing a simple melody. "There's no-one here."

"Oh, come on, Matty. There has to be someone; pianos don't just play themselves..." Alfred was stopped short when he pushed past Mathew and saw the piano playing itself. His blue eyes widened and he gave an 'eep!' of fright.

Matthew raised an eyebrow.

"We're in a haunted school…and piano's playing themselves is hard to believe?" he muttered quietly. Matthew side stepped some holes and walked over to the piano. "I don't think it's one of those old piano's that are _supposed_ to play themselves….but I don't get a horrible feeling about it either. Huh."

Alfred walked up and looked down at the keys moving.

"There's pianos that are Supposed to play themselves?!" he asked disbelievingly. He knelt down and peered underneath the piano, expecting to see a music player and wires but he saw nothing unusual. Matthew wanted to face-palm.

"Yes. The Player Piano, or Pianola. They showed up in the 19th century," he replied. "It's not really important anyway. This isn't one, so, we should probably not disturb whoever is playing."

Alfred quickly stood and headed for the door.

"Good idea."

Matthew followed him out. As they headed in the other direction, they were forced to stop as a brunette girl ran towards them, only to turn at the last minute and head for the doors to the stairs.

"Was…that another person?" Matthew asked in surprise. Alfred didn't waste time answering his cousin. He hurried after the girl.

"Hey! Hold up!" he called after her. The girl froze before whipping around, green eyes wide in terror.

"No! Get away from me!" she shouted, backing away.

"Wait! We aren't going to -" Matthew began.

"NO!" she shouted again, whirling around and fleeing. Alfred raised an eyebrow but continued after the girl.

"Would you stop running for a second?! We aren't going to hurt you! We just want to know if you are Sarah!"

The girl didn't stop. She stumbled for a second, losing her pink flower hairpin, but quickly got up and disappeared around a corner. Matthew hurried after Alfred but soon had to stop as the pain in his head quickly sky-rocketed.

"Aaaah!" he cried out, leaning against a wall and gripping his head. Alfred turned to help Mathew but he soon fell to his knees, clutching his head.

"UGAHHHH! Matty! Get out!" he ordered, tears pricking at the corners of his blue eyes. Matthew shook his head and grabbed Alfred's arm.

"Come with me! It's not safe for you either," he replied, trying to drag Alfred to the entryway. Alfred cringed and yanked his arm away.

"No, I'll be fine- Agh! Get out! Find the others!" he demanded, turning to crawl up the stairs. Matthew pulled him back.

"No! You're leaving with me! You can't be a hero if you're dead!" he snapped, tugging him out into the entryway. The moment the two moved off the stairs, the pain stopped. Alfred panted, trying to catch his breath. He looked over at Mathew. His cousin was always quiet and reserved. It was like he had become a different person on those steps.

Matthew panted quietly.

"Please…wherever we go…we have to go together," he said, looking up at Alfred. Alfred nodded slowly, wrapping an arm around Mathew's shoulders and holding him closely.

"Alright."

He looked back up the stairs. Who was that girl? And, more importantly, was she alive?

Matthew smiled and gave Alfred a relieved hug. He really didn't want to be in this building any longer. Matthew reluctantly pulled away and opened the doors. As soon as he stepped out onto the walkway, the doors slammed shut, cutting him off from his cousin.

"Alfred!" he shouted, pulling at the doors; however he quickly discovered they had locked themselves….or…had Alfred locked them? Matthew felt tears well in his eyes. "Alfred!"

"Gihh iht bahhhhhhh!"

Matthew felt dread pooling in his stomach. He turned. A girl with her hair tied in a side ponytail was walking towards him. Matthew felt like he was going to throw up when he noticed her left eye was missing.

"Gihhh iht BAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" the girl wailed angrily, reaching towards him. Matthew turned and shook the doors.

"ALFRED!" he screamed.

"GIHHHHH IHHHT BAHHHHH!"

Matthew yelped as the doors suddenly opened and he tumbled inside. Quickly getting back to his feet he whirled around and slammed the doors shut. When it seemed like there was no attempt from the ghost to enter, he backed away. Turning to face the room he could see it was empty.

"Alfred? Alfred! Where are you!?" he called, his voice shaking from panic. Matthew walked over to the door they hadn't been through. The cabinet beside it rattled and fell, blocking his path. Matthew backed away quickly and turned to go through the first door.

"Alfred!" he shouted, making his way upstairs again. Matthew whined pitifully in his throat. He pushed through a door into the second floor hallway. The sight before him caused him to scream and fall to his ass.

The girl from before was lying on the ground in a pool of blood. Her blank eyes stared at him, almost like they were pleading for help.

"No! But she was just alive! No, no, no, no, NO!" he cried, shaking his head. Matthew didn't even know who she was…but she had been the only other person in this place. He crawled over to her side and picked up the student ID attached to her uniform.

"Elizabeta Héderváry….urgh!" he noticed the school was blocked out by blood and he dropped the ID. Matthew looked down at the girl. "I'm sorry. We should have helped you."

He stood and walked back downstairs. What could he possibly do? Alfred was gone and there was a ghost blocking his exit. The tears he'd been holding back flowed freely down his cheeks.

"Al…fred…." he sobbed quietly.

"Hey, little guy, what's wrong?" came a voice from behind. Matthew turned quickly and his eyes widened. A tall guy with wild blonde hair, black jacket slung over one shoulder, was looking down at him with concern.

"Uh…um….M-my cousin…he's missing," he replied.

"Really? That's awful. I myself am looking for someone…my little brother," the taller boy said.

"I'm sorry," Matthew replied, not sure what else to say. The blond smiled.

"My name is Andersen. Why don't we look for your cousin and my brother together, huh? It's not safe to be wandering around here on your own."

"R-really? You'll help me look?"

"Yeah, of course."

Matthew smiled and wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Thank you, Andersen," he said. Andersen smiled and reached out to ruffle Matthew's hair.

"No problem. You kind of remind me of my brother, actually," he commented. Matthew blushed a little and smiled again. Andersen led Matthew through the entryway and over to the cabinet. He bent down, grabbed the edge of the cabinet, and hefted it back up as though it were nothing.

"There, that's better. Now we can go this way," Andersen said with a smirk. Matthew was amazed. Maybe that's why this guy was still alive? He was incredibly strong. They walked through the doors and along the long hallway. There was nothing particularly interesting or helpful on the first floor, though there was some odd green goo on the floor near one end of a hallway.

Matthew followed Andersen upstairs and into the art room. Most of the easels were still upright and so were the tables. A plaster bust sat in the center of the room.

"Oh, look, there's something written on this table," Andersen noticed. "'Thomas, be careful around the green goo on the first floor. It's deadly. I met a spiritualist here and they left behind a pair of blessed shoes. Apparently if one person wears them, and any others hold onto them, only then is it safe to walk across the goo. Thomas…whenever I see the bodies of those who died here…I start to worry and feel as though I'll go mad. Please, I beg you, live!'"

Matthew spotted something under the table.

"Look! Could these…be the shoes?" he asked, pulling out a pair of shoes and holding them up.

"I would assume so. They were left under this note," Andersen said. He smiled and patted Matthew's shoulder. "Good job, Matty."

Matthew grinned. The two left the room and headed back downstairs.

"Hmm…these look too small for me. Maybe you should try them, and then we can see what's across the green goo," Andersen suggested. Matthew nodded and took off his shoes, replacing them quickly with the blessed pair. They were a little tight, but it was fine. Andersen took hold of Matthew's hand, while in the other Matthew held his shoes, and they began to cross the goo. Reaching the other side, they spotted something odd on the ground. Andersen picked it up.

"Huh…a crystal. Well, maybe it'll come in handy later, yeah?" he said to Matthew. Matthew nodded. He turned and tried the door behind them, labeled 'Personal Reccords'. It didn't budge.

"Well, we'll just have to look elsewhere for your cousin," Andersen said, leading Matthew back across the green goo.

They left the hallway and passed through the entryway into the second hallway. Andersen suddenly stopped and pulled out the crystal from his pocket. It was glowing and shaking slightly.

"That's strange," he said. There was a flash of light and the sound of doors opening caused them to turn. The bathroom door that had been covered in symbols was now open. The crystal shattered. Matthew shifted awkwardly.

"That's…somewhat of a relief. The amount of times I've been scared has…well…I really need to go," he muttered, face red from embarrassment. Andersen chuckled.

"Well, this is good luck then. I'll wait out here for you," he replied. Matthew gave a half smile.

"Thank you!" he squeaked, dashing into the bathroom.

Andersen leaned against the wall beside the bathroom, waiting for the Canadian boy to finish. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Ah! Andersen? Andersen! I am relieved to see you."

Andersen looked up and was mildly surprised to see his classmate, Roderich, walking over to him.

"Roderich? You're alive," Andersen said, smiling. Roderich pushed his glasses back up his nose.

"You as well. I have been looking all over for you and Elizabeta," he replied, giving a tired sigh. "This place is absolutely horrid. Did you see that the entire building is surrounded by forest?"

Andersen watched Roderich rant.

"What the hell even is this place? It's full of ghosts! I never thought I'd be wrong about something, especially something like that," Roderich complained. Andersen crossed his arms over his chest.

"I think we might be stuck here forever. There doesn't seem to be any way out, at least," he said. Roderich gave a sniff of distain.

"That's a poor attitude to have, Andersen. We have to put in an effort if we're going to leave," he replied. Roderich's eyes widened in shock when he felt a pain shoot through his gut. He looked down to see a knife.

"Huh? And…er…sen?"

"You're the one with the poor attitude," Andersen said. Roderich gave a gasp and collapsed to his knees, clutching his gut. Andersen kicked him back, and Roderich screamed as he fell through a hole in the floor. Andersen listened, and after a few moments, heard a thud and sickening crunching sound.

"You were right though. There's no escape. You will die no matter what. It doesn't matter who does it. The ghosts, or me," Andersen muttered.

"Ah!"

Andersen whipped around to see Matthew standing by the bathroom doors, eyes wide in terror.

"Oh, Matty, there you are," Andersen said with a grin. Matthew's entire body shook. He gave a sudden cry of fright and fled.

"Matthew!" Andersen called after him, looking surprised. "Don't run from me!"


	6. Chapter 5

**AN:** Chapter 5 is now up and ready to read! We are hoping people are enjoying this. We would know if you lovely readers would leave reviews. *wink wink nudge nudge*

**Warning:** Character death, detailed description of violence, nasty stuff.

Chapter 5

Ludwig, Gilbert, and Antonio weren't sure how to proceed. Standing in front of them were three transparent children – one was missing an eye, one most of his head, and all three were missing their tongues.

"How are we supposed to fight these Scheißes?" he growled. The children laughed.

"I think we should just run. I mean, you can't fight ghost, amigos," Antonio said.

"Nein! I do not run away from anything!" Ludwig snapped. Gilbert snickered to himself.

"Yeah, you aren't your boyfriend~," he taunted under his breath as he cracked his knuckles. Ludwig rounded on his brother.

"Would you stop that!? This is not the time for pissing each other off!" he snarled. The children began to move closer.

"Uh, guys? I think we ought to get going," Antonio said, tugging on both their arms. Gilbert stuck his tongue out at his brother teasingly before looking back at the children.

"I'm going to fight them. I'm awesome enough to beat them back to Hell," he gloated. Ludwig grunted.

"Not on your own, you're not," he said, picking up a loose floorboard. Antonio sighed and looked around for something to use as a weapon. This wouldn't end well, he could feel it.

Ludwig gave a shout and ran at the ghost children. Gilbert brought his fist down on the one missing her eye. His grin quickly fell when he hit nothing and fell right through her. He hit the floor with a grunt, rolling into the wall. He shook his head clear and looked up at the ghost girl staring back at him.

"...They're...real ghosts!" he cried, jumping out of the way as she reached for him with a disturbing grin. Ludwig growled and swung the board at the boy glaring up at him. It passed through him.

"Wihhhhhh youuu ihhhhhhhh meeeeee!?" the boy wailed. Ludwig backed up quickly as the boy reached for him. Antonio wasn't sure what to do. It was pointless to attack something they couldn't hit.

"Come on! It's not cowardly if we run! It's stupid if we don't!" he urged. Something grabbed his ankle and Antonio crashed to the floor. Ludwig heard the shout and turned to see a tall, bloody man with a hammer pulling Antion down the hallway.

"Antonio!" he shouted. Antonio struggled in the grip of the impossibly strong man dragging him across the floor. Gilbert rolled out of the reach of the ghosts and hurried down the hall after Antonio. Ludwig sprinted at Gilbert's side. How could a guy dragging someone else be so fast?

Antonio gave a wail of pain as the man brought his hammer down on his leg. He felt all the bones crack and give in. Antonio looked back and cried out. A bone was sticking out from the top half of his leg, the bottom half was practically hanging off.

Ludwig leapt forward, trying to catch Antonio but he fell short. Antonio screamed as he was dragged around a corner and out of sight.

"Gott verdammt!" Gilbert swore as he helped Ludwig up. "How can that bastard be so fast?!"

Ludwig swore vehemently.

"Antonio….he….Sohn von einem Weibchen!" he shouted, smacking his fists against a wall.

Antonio screamed himself horse as he was dragged away. He could feel the wood scraping off into his skin. He was brought down several flights of stairs, his head smacking against each step until he was dizzy. Then, everything was cold. Lights flickered above him as he was pulled through the dirt.

Antonio was suddenly lifted up and dropped, face up, onto a metal table. The room stunk of rotting meat, and when his vision cleared more, he could see hooks dangling from the ceiling. Some were…in use, while others swung empty. The floor, from what he could see of it, was covered in blood and organs. A bucket in the corner contained severed limbs.

"N-no…" he gasped.

The man who had kidnapped him tightened the leather straps around Antonio's wrists and ankles, effectively inhibiting much movement. He walked around and began searching through a box on the floor.

Antonio looked back down at his broken leg and felt bile rising in his throat. As much as he wanted to hope Ludwig and Gilbert would rescue him, he was positive his life was going to end here on this table in this horror of a room.

The man made a slight sound of triumph and walked back over to the table...holding a mallet. He looked down at Antonio, seeming to look him over for the best place to land the blow.

Though he knew it was fruitless, Antonio shook his head.

"No…please…no!" he pleaded, beginning to struggle. The man ignored him and lifted the mallet over his shoulder and swung it down on Antonio's left arm. The sickening sound of bones crunching and splintering under the incredible force filled the room.

Antonio screamed as his arm was pulverized.

"NOOOOOOOO!" he wailed, trying to pull his other arm free. The man lifted the mallet with a small grunt and walked around to the other side of the table, holding Antonio's arm steady and bringing the mallet down once again. The humorous split under the pressure and dislocated from both the scapula and ulna; both ends pushing taught against the skin.

Antonio shrieked and writhed in pain.

"STOP! Stop! Stop!" he begged. The man walked back over to the box on the floor and threw the mallet back, beginning to root around again. He pulled out a screwdriver, looked at it for a moment, then shook his head and put it back. He did this several more times before making a decision. He walked back to Antonio with a wrench and some nails. He placed the wrench down on the table and walked over to Antonio's right arm. He held one of the nails directly over the bulge of skin held up by the near compound fracture. He pressed the nail down slowly, just barely breaking the skin.

Antonio shook his head wildly from side to side.

"No, no no, no, no, no, no, no!" he sobbed. His body was constantly twitching now from the pain. The man continued to put pressure on the head of the nail till the shaft had slowly slipped through the skin and hit the bone. He reached forward and picked up the wrench, holding it over the nail as a makeshift hammer.

Antonio screamed louder, writhing and trying to twist away. Why couldn't it just end already? The man swung the wrench and the sound of bone splitting filled the room once more as the nail parted the humorous down the middle. Small splinters of bone pushed their way through Antonio's skin; blood slipping down onto the metal table.

Antonio wailed.

"PLEASE! Just KILL me! Please…I…can't…." he pleaded, tears cascading down his cheeks. The man walked over to the box once again and came back with a small pair of shears. He placed them on the table next to Antonio's head and picked up another nail; wasting no time in plunging it into the Spaniard's sternum.

Antonio gasped and wheezed, blood spurting out of his mouth. He really didn't want to know what those shears were for. He gagged and spat out some of the blood gathering in his mouth.

Suddenly, the man's hands were prying his mouth open and trying to grab his tongue. Antonio's eyes widened and he tried to move his tongue out of the way, but it was no use. He whimpered pathetically. Antonio was happy his friends weren't there to see how pitiful he was.

The man pulled Antonio's tongue out as far as possible and picked up the shears. With a good grip on the slippery organ, the man opened the shears and placed the blades around Antonio's tongue. With a final adjustment, the man squeezed the handle and the blades closed; cutting through the muscle like a piece of paper.

The pain was unimaginable. Antonio wanted to scream and cry, but he couldn't. All he could do was choke on his own blood. The last thought that passed through Antonio's mind, was that he hoped Lovino got out of this mess alive.

Yao walked cautiously down the hallways. Running off like that was incredibly foolish. Now he had no idea where he was or where Ivan was.

"Yao! Yaaooooo!" Ivan's voiced echoed throughout the halls. He had been searching for his lovely sunflower for far too long. Ivan was beginning to worry something had happened. His eyes widened. If Yao were hurt…or dead….Ivan shook his head. No, he couldn't let those thoughts enter his head until he was sure of what happened. "YAAAAAAAAOOOOOO!"

Yao's head snapped up when he heard his name. That was Ivan! He ran full speed down the hall toward the voice. Yao only hoped Ivan was searching for him and not calling out because he was in trouble.

"Ivan!" Yao rounded the corner and ran directly into the Russian, falling with an 'ofph'. Ivan's eyes widened and he smiled delightedly.

"Yao!" he exclaimed happily, picking the Chinese boy up and crushing him against his chest in a bear hug. "I am so glad to be seeing you! I was very worried, da!"

Yao blushed furiously but smiled and hugged back.

"I worried about you too, Ivan. Are you hurt?" he inquired, pulling back slightly to lock eyes with the cuddly Russian. Ivan gave a small shrug.

"Only little bit. Nothing to worry about," he replied, reluctantly setting Yao down. "What about you? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Yao's smile fell and he looked Ivan over.

"Where are you hurt? Maybe I can help."

He gingerly slid his hands over Ivan's arms. Feeling the tight muscles under the coat, Yao blushed heavily. Ivan blushed at the feeling of Yao's tiny hands on his arms.

"My head. I was hit in the head. But, like I said, I am fine, da? But, you did not answer my question. Are you hurt anywhere?" he asked, trying to see if there were any injuries on his precious china doll. Yao couldn't help but smile at Ivan's concern. He shook his head with a smile.

"No, I am not injured," he hung his head slightly, a strand of brown hair dropping into his face. "Duìbùqǐ, I should not have run away."

Ivan pulled Yao into another hug.

"I am just glad you are okay, moy solnishka. Just don't be running off again, da?" he replied, petting Yao's silky hair. Yao's pink blush raged red on his porcelain cheeks. Although he did not know much Russian, he knew enough to realize that Ivan had just called him something incredibly sweet and affectionate. Yao wrapped his arms around Ivan's middle and sighed to himself.

"I won't run away again..."

Ivan grinned.

"Yay! I am glad," he said. Ivan would have been quite content to stand there and hold Yao for the rest of their lives. Given that the rest of their lives might be a very short term however, if they stayed there, he decided they ought to get going. "Yao, I am thinking we ought to find the others, or somewhere to wait."

Yao was someone disappointed when Ivan pulled back but nodded.

"I agree. What about the infirmary? It seemed rather safe and there are chairs and beds to sit on."

Yao blushed gently at the innuendo that just passed his lips but decided to brush it off.

"But you have to let me look at your head when we get there," he scolded. Ivan chuckled and nodded.

"Of course. I do not wish to be worrying you," he agreed. Ivan took Yao's hand in his own and began leading him through the hall. Looking around, he realized he didn't know where they were in relation to the Infirmary. However, Ivan was not perturbed. He would find the Infirmary, and protect Yao until they got there.

Butterflies began to flutter in Yao's stomach at the electric zap that happened when Ivan linked their hands. He quickly caught up to walk next to Ivan, risking small glances at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Do you remember how we got to the infirmary, my friend?" he inquired, looking down a hallway. Ivan smiled down at Yao, leading them up a flight of stairs.

"Nope," he said cheerfully. "But I will find it. Trust me, da?"

Yao chuckled at the Russian's chipper mood and nodded.

"I always trust you, Ivan."

Ivan felt like his heart would literally pop out of his chest at that. His grin widened.

"I am glad," Ivan replied. At this point, all the bodies they passed didn't even phase him. Not that he'd been too bothered when they first arrived. However, he wasn't sure if Yao was afraid of them or not, so when they began passing multitudes of them, Ivan wrapped his arm around Yao's shoulders. Luckily, things were starting to look familiar, so he hoped they would find the Infirmary soon.

Yao's blush raged once more. But an incredible feeling of security soon overwhelmed him. He smiled and leaned into Ivan's side as they walked down hallway after hallway. Yao was too happy to not notice the bodies anymore or notice where they were going.

Ivan heard the flies as they rounded a corner. When he spotted the Science Lab, he knew where they were, and what was causing the flies.

"Yao, do not look," Ivan said, clasping a hand over Yao's eyes just in case. Turning the small corner he tried not to look at the spot where Kiku had died and tried even harder not to step in…the mess. Ivan quickly led them down the hall to the Infirmary.

Yao heard the flies and swallowed the bile raising in his throat. His hand clenched Ivan's coat tightly as a small whimper escaped his lips. There was one body that Ivan would keep from Yao's sight so fervently...

Ivan opened the Infirmary door and pulled Yao inside.

"It is okay, Yao-Yao. We are in the Infirmary," he said, removing his hand from Yao's eyes. Yao opened his eyes but stared at the ground sadly.

"...Xièxiè, Ivan," he whispered. Ivan tugged at the end of his scarf nervously. He didn't know how to comfort people, but he wanted to make Yao happy again. Ivan led Yao over to the bed and sat down.

"…Is comfortable, da?" he asked awkwardly. Yao blushed slightly and sat next to the Russian.

"Shì de, it is," he responded with a nod. He was surprised to see Ivan acting awkwardly. Usually he was a walking smile. Ivan remembered the reason they had come here in the first place.

"You wanted to check my head, da? Because you were worried," he said, pointing at his head. Yao chuckled with a nod and stood, walking around behind Ivan.

"Thank you for reminding me," he replied. "Where does it hurt?"

Ivan gestured to the back of his head.

"I am thinking someone hit me with something heavy when I was not looking," he said calmly, as though it were an everyday occurrence. Yao gingerly moved the fair hair aside and slid his fingertips across Ivan's scalp, feeling for a bump or cut.

Ivan closed his eyes and sighed. That felt wonderful.

"Yao's hands are so gentle," he commented, smiling happily. Yao froze for a moment, a blush raging on his cheeks.

"...T-Thank you..." he wasn't quite sure how to respond so he continued his exam. His fingertips soon ghosted over a spot that felt like a cut. He moved his fingers over it once more.

"Does that hurt, Ivan?"

Ivan winced slightly.

"Da, a little," he said. Yao hummed once.

"You have a small cut. Don't worry though, I shall treat it," he reassured in a gentle voice. Yao turned to the cabinets and began to search through the dusty bottles and jars. Soon enough, he found some cotton, alcohol and a small bandage. Relived that such things were at their disposal, Yao drenched a swab with the alcohol and found the cut once again.

"This might sting, Ivan," he warned. Ivan shrugged.

"I am tough. But thank you for the warning," he replied, sitting patiently. Yao was so caring. Yao smiled slightly at the Russian's bravery and began to dab at the cut. It almost looked like something resembling the head of a hammer! Yao's brow furrowed as he continued to clean the wound.

"It appears you were hit with a hammer," he stated, amazed that Ivan was only knocked unconscious from such a blow.

Ivan tensed slightly at the sting, but otherwise was unaffected.

"Da, probably. I do remember seeing a face before I blacked out. Then I woke up in a weird room and there were ghost children in there. The door was unlocked, luckily, and I got out," he explained with a smile. Yao unwrapped a bandage and placed it over the cut, giving it a ginger pat.

"Yes, you are very lucky, Ivan. I am quite amazed you did not sustain more injuries," he replied with a smile, sitting himself back down. Ivan grinned.

"I told you I was tough," he said with a laugh. "Thank you for bandaging that, though. You are very good at that, da."

Yao blushed slightly and tucked his hands inside his sleeves.

"You're welcome. And you are quite tough," he replied with a chuckle. 'But very sweet too...'

Ivan yawned and flopped backwards against the bed.

"I wonder what happened to Mr. Vargas. I am hoping he found the others," he said. Yao glanced at his friend from the corner of his eye. Ivan was really cute like that. Almost like a panda bear playing.

"As am I. How long do you think we should wait here for?"

Ivan hummed in thought, then shrugged.

"I do not know," he replied. A mischievous grin slowly spread across his face. Ivan reached out and pulled Yao down by his waist. "Until someone finds us? Maybe forever, da?"

Yao yelped in surprise, a red blush heavy on his cheeks.

"Ivan! W-What are you doing?!" he gasped, attempting to sit back up. Ivan didn't let go and kept Yao pinned to his chest.

"Relaxing. You should relax too, da?" he replied, smiling innocently. Yao's blush intensified at Ivan's smile.

"I-I do not need to lie on you to relax! Release me now!" he demanded. Ivan chuckled.

"Why?" he asked. "Am I not comfortable?"

Yao turned his head away, his brunette bangs hiding his face.

"I did not say that... I just do not need to lay on you..." he replied quietly. Ivan pouted.

"Aw," he mumbled, letting Yao go. Yao hurriedly sat up straight and righted his Tang jacket, stuffing his hands back into the sleeves. He peeked at Ivan through his bangs again and his heart sank at the sad look in the violet irises. He hadn't meant to hurt Ivan's feelings.

"...I apologize for my outburst," he finally stated. Ivan shook his head and sat up as well.

"No, I am sorry. I was not meaning to make you uncomfortable," he said, twisting the end of his scarf in his hands. Yao turned to look at his friend.

"I know you weren't. I forgive you," he replied with a smile, scooting a tad closer. It was exceedingly hard to stay mad at Ivan when he did such cute things. Ivan was instantly happy again.

"Yay!" he cheered, hugging Yao tightly. Yao blinked in surprise but then smiled, wrapping his thin arms around Ivan's middle.

Alfred groaned as his eyes creaked open. His head was killing him. He sat up and looked around; he was in, what seemed to be, a classroom but it didn't look like any of the others he had seen. He stood carefully and rubbed his head, feeling a good-sized bump.

"Ugh… Matty? Where are you, Mathew?!" he began to worry when he got no response. As Alfred looked around the unfamiliar room, he spotted a note on a desk and picked it up.

"Chasing Down the Hidden Past of the Cursed School – Over the course of several days, a series of incidents occurred in which multiple children disappeared one after another. The whereabouts of said children were eventually discovered through investigation. However, the findings were certainly worst case scenario. Three of the four missing children were found dead in a concealed room within the basement of Sunnyside Middle School. The fourth child was luckily found alive shaking in fear on the ground next to the bodies. Finishing off this nightmarish scene was an adult male instructor who seemed to be in a state of confusion. In his hands was a pair of bloody scissors. The surviving middle school student gave testimony against the instructor, Mr. Jungsai – who was later found to be the principle's own son. Mr. Jungsai was charged with multiple accounts of kidnapping, murder of minors, and desecration of the dead. After the charges were made, Mr. Jungsai was sentenced to life in prison. Many months after his incarceration he managed to escape and return to Sunnyside Middle School. It was there in the basement room that he took his own life by hanging'," he read. Alfred shuddered. '_How creepy_,' he thought.

"To worry so much for another's well-being that it torments you to the core… It's an exquisite stigmata that afflicts the living and the dead alike." Alfred turned to look for the feminine voice and saw a girl with pale blonde hair and dead eyes. Alfred yelped in shock.

"W-Whoa! Who are you?"

Natalia blinked.

"I'm the spirit of a girl who died here," she responded, deadpan. Alfred's shoulders tensed slightly. This girl was a ghost.

"O-Oh… Sorry about that, I guess." He replied awkwardly. Natalia just stared at the blonde.

"Happiness and unhappiness are linked. Whenever one attempts to gain good fortune with little effort, there is always a risk." Alfred raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me? What are you talking about, girl?"

Natalia's brow furrowed and her bangs cast a menacing shadow over her eyes.

"You and your friends have become trapped in this school because you preformed the Ever After charm… incorrectly!" she snapped. Alfred yelped at the girl's sudden outburst.

"What? No way! We did it just as we were told!" he defended. Natalia blinked, dead-eyed again.

"One of you chanted the phrase too many times. Or too few. The number of participants determines the number of repetitions that must be spoken. And Somebody did wrong, da?"

Alfred shook his head. There was no way any of them were that bad at math.

"Sorry, but we did it right." He replied. Natalia's expression remained unchanged.

"It may have been intentional too. One of your friends thought it idyjocki and did not bother to count. Or a misguided one didn't want the fun to end and knowingly wronged it in a vain attempt at a second chance, da?" Alfred gasped. This place was horrible! There was no way it could've been intentional! Natalia continued.

"Even if no-one did it purposely, a tendency not to take things seriously; some of your comrades seem to have that quality, da? They wouldn't think dire consequences would befall them. Hehe… Not one friend has come forward and admitted, am I wrong?" Alfred's jaw set. No chick was going to talk about his friends like that.

"Shut up, you bitch!"

Natalia's lips curled.

"Prabačenni. It seems I've proposed far too many likely scenarios. Perhaps it is just in my nature. Do you still hold your piece of the doll? Do not let it out of your sights. Regard it as a memento… of those who are dear to you." A wide and rather disturbing grin spread her pale lips. Alfred shuddered at the look.

"Uh… Excuse me, but I need to find my little cousin." He turned to leave the room. Natalia spoke up again.

"Such concern for your friends… and all the impulses that go with it. They spur the heart into action; truly a noble sentiment. That is all charms are, really; microsms of the soul… Whether it be love or hate, all you need to set them off is a truly strong emotion. The stronger the emotion, the more powerful the charm." Alfred froze, eyes wide. His body felt like it was on fire! He gripped his head tightly as a burning sensation rushed through it. He turned to look at the ghost girl to find her holding a large knife. Her grin spread as she raised it.

"We will not allow anyone to stand in our way. Those who do will suffer without mercy. Now go. Go to the one who occupies your thoughts… Though you probably won't make it in time… Hahahahahahh!"

Ludwig walked beside Gilbert as they searched the halls and rooms for Antonio. Ludwig was quite sure that they were going to be too late - if they found him at all. If the man that had taken Antonio had been so quick to smash his leg while abducting him, then he probably wouldn't take very long in killing him. It was a horrible thought.

Gilbert grumbled and cracked his knuckles as they walked.

"Grr, that bastard messed with the wrong guys. I'm so awesome I'll have him begging for mercy within a moment!"

Ludwig nodded, though he certainly wasn't as optimistic as his brother.

"Ja….We just have to find them first," he replied. Ludwig hated the fact that, though the scene of Antonio's abduction kept replaying in his head, Antonio himself was replaced by Feliciano. What if the Italian had met a similar fate? He grit his teeth. If that was true…Ludwig would destroy this places along with every damned ghost inside it.

Gilbert noticed his brother's thoughtfully glazed-over look and grinned. He only looked like that when he was thinking of that annoying little Italian.

"Thinking about a certain brunette, are we kleiner Bruder?" he giggled. It was so much fun to tease Ludwig. Ludwig growled.

"Actually, yes, I am. I am thinking about how that could have easily been Feliciano instead of Antonio! I am imagining all the horrible things that could be happening right now! Is that so amusing to you!?" he snarled, grabbing Gilbert by the front of his shirt. Gilbert raised an eyebrow and attempted to Ludwig's hands from his shirt.

"I'm simply teasing you, Ludwig. Your little crush is niedlich."

Ludwig pushed Gilbert away.

"You are such an arschloch!" he snapped, marching off down the hall. Gilbert was about to go after him when something struck him in the back of the head. He began to see double and reached out toward his brother's receding form.

"...L-Lud...wig..."

Then everything went black.

Ludwig took a moment to realize there were no footsteps echoing his own. He stopped and looked around. Gilbert was nowhere in sight.

"Gilbert?" he called. Nothing. "GILBERT!"

When he still received no response, Ludwig began to feel dread. Antonio had just been taken, and now Gilbert was missing.

"Verdammt!"

Ludwig back tracked and pushed open a door. It was void of any life. He went further back and checked another room. Again, it was empty save for the toppled chairs and desks. Growing more worried by the minute, Ludwig frantically searched for his brother.

Whether by miracle or pure luck, Ludwig eventually found his brother in a classroom on the floor below the one they'd been searching.

"Gilbert!" he shouted in shock. His brother was on the floor, bound by ropes and blindfolded with a scrap of cloth. Ludwig quickly noticed the rope extending from his brother. It wrapped around a stone bust, and looped up to secure a bucket above Gilbert's head.

Gilbert groaned and moved his head around.

"Ludwig...? What the...? Where am I?!" he demanded, feeling a blindfold on his face and his body bound. Ludwig saw the bust tremble slightly as Gilbert moved his head.

"Gilbert! Don't move!" he ordered, hurrying to his brother's side. "I will get you out!"

Ludwig was unsure, however, how to accomplish that task. The ropes were tied very tightly and he could see where they had been secured together. If he tugged at them incorrectly, the bust would fall off the desk, and whatever was in that bucket would fall on his brother.

"Gil…can you tell where the knot to these ropes are?" Ludwig asked. Gilbert moved his hands slowly, trying to feel where they connected.

"Uh... I think back here," he gently shook his right hand, his index finger pointing to a knot between his wrists. "What's going on, Ludwig?"

Ludwig grimaced as the bust moved closer to the edge.

"I said don't move!" he barked. Ludwig calmed himself. "Gil…the ropes binding you, they are connected to a bucket above your head. Every time you move it makes it far more likely to tip over. I don't know what's in there, but you have to not move."

Ludwig moved to Gilbert's other side and looked down at the knot. Of course, that was where the rope connecting to the bucket was. Whoever had done this was very intelligent. Ludwig looked up at the slightly swaying bucket. He would just have to untie the bucket from the rope, then. That seemed to be the only option he had.

Ludwig stood and began looking for a stable chair to use. Gilbert grumbled slightly at being talked to like that by his younger brother but stopped moving.

"What are you waiting for then? Cut the rope off me!"

Ludwig found one and brought it over.

"I would, normally, but I can't. Also, I didn't bring it to school. You know that's against the rules, bruder. The ropes are tied in a way that if even one comes loose from you, the bucket will fall. I'm untying the bucket from the rope, then I'll untie you," he explained. Ludwig carefully stepped up onto the chair. He paused for a moment, making sure the chair was holding his weight, and looked up at the bucket. Ludwig could definitely reach the bucket. It also wasn't tied in any especially tricky knots. He placed his hand on the underside of the bucket and used his free hand to untie the rope.

Once it slipped loose, Ludwig made to hold the bucket properly. His eyes widened as his hands were unable to find purchase on the slippery bucket and it fell, dumping nails, razors, tacks, and scissors onto Gilbert's face.

"GILBERT!" Ludwig cried out. Gilbert cried out in pain as the multiple blades penetrated his body.

"AGH!"

A pair of scissors fell and sliced across his neck, ripping through the arteries in his neck. Blood spurted from the wound, leaving splashes and trails along the floor. Ludwig jumped down from the chair and dropped down beside Gilbert. He ripped off the blindfold and began removing the contents of the bucket.

"Gilbert! No! Please! You can't…." he begged, untying the rope and pulling Gilbert's head onto his lap. Ludwig knew it was too late, the lack of life in his brother's red eyes told him so. "No…no…Gil…I was going to save you VERDAMMT!"

**Translations:** Scheißes = shits (German) [I don't know German, so this pluralization could be wrong), Amigos = friends (Spanish), Nein = No (German), Gott verdammt = god dammit (German), Sohn von einem Weibchen = Son of a bitch (German), niedlich = cute? (German), Prabačenni (ask the other author, she didn't tell me what it meant and google isn't helpful).


	7. Chapter 6

**AN:** Hey! Chapter 6 is now ready for reading! We greatly appreciate the reviews we've gotten so far and look forward to receiving more. We hope people are enjoying this story.

**Warning:** Gore and smut. Yes, I said it. Smut. Enjoy :P

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><p>Chapter 6<p>

Ludwig trudged through the halls. How could he be so useless? Two people now had died when he was supposed to protect them. He grimaced. Ludwig couldn't believe he had to leave his brother here. Who else was going to die here? Who else was going to die here because of him?

Ludwig barely noticed when he came to a stop, though when he looked around he spotted two bathrooms. He needed to clear his head. Some water would help, surely. Ludwig walked into the boy's bathroom and turned the knob on one of the sinks. The pipes clanged a bit, but nothing came out.

"Hahahahahahahaha!"

Ludwig's head snapped up. That laughter….was coming from the stalls.

"I was really surprised!"

"Hmm-hmm."

"So, Lovino, did you hear?"

"What?"

"Francis had a picture of Alfred sleeping with a stuffed animal! It was really funny!"

"Tch, yeah, whatever. That guy is a total perv."

Ludwig stood outside the stall the voices were coming from.

"Feli…ciano?" he called. Ludwig tried opening the door, but it was locked. He tried again. "Feliciano?"

Ludwig wondered if he had been mistaken. It was entirely possible that he was only imagining the voices. He wanted to see Feliciano so badly that his brain was simply messing with him. Ludwig began to walk away when a loud _thunk _and the sound of creaking caught his attention. Ludwig returned to the door and pulled at it. The door swung open.

"FELICIANO!"

The Italian brunette swung slightly on a rope noose, his face beginning to turn blue as his eyes started to slip closed. He saw slicked-back blonde hair and blue eyes.

"...Lud...wig..?" he gasped. Ludwig rushed forward.

"Hold on! I'll get you down!" he exclaimed. Ludwig hoisted Feliciano up onto his shoulders and pushed him back against the wall. He reached back and began running his hands over the rope, looking for the knot. Ludwig managed to find it and untied it as fast as he could. Ludwig set Feliciano down on the ground and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Feliciano…everything is alright. Just breathe," he said. Feliciano coughed and sputtered as he tried to get his breath back. Once his eyes refocused, he looked up at Ludwig and fresh tears began to flow.

"Ludwig, il mio amico! Thank God you are alright! I was so worried about you!" he blubbered, throwing his arms around the German. Ludwig wrapped his arms around the small brunet.

"Ja…I was also worried about you….Mein Gott, Feliciano! Why would you do something like that!?" Ludwig suddenly demanded, pulling back slightly and grasping Feliciano's shoulders. Feliciano flinched and cried harder.

"Lovino! Oh, mio fratello! H-H-He is... Waaahh!" his loud sobs wouldn't allow Feliciano to finish his sentences. Ludwig quickly pulled Feliciano back into his arms. He hated seeing Feliciano so upset.

"I'm sorry for getting angry. I understand," he said, rubbing Feliciano's back in an attempt to comfort him. Feliciano happily and quickly accepted Ludwig's hug and hugged back tightly, crying into the blond's broad shoulder. Ludwig allowed it, though he was still concerned if Feliciano was still in pain.

"Hey…Feliciano, how is your neck?" he asked, blushing slightly as he gently pet the Italian's hair. Feliciano sniffled and gingerly rubbed around his throat, whimpering slightly.

"Alright, I guess. It hurts a little bit...Mmmm~," he moaned happily, a blush starting to glow on his cheeks as the feeling his hair being stroked made him forget about the pain in his neck. Ludwig heard the sound and quickly stopped petting Feliciano's hair.

"Good - I mean, not good that it hurts, but that it's only a little bit," he said. "Uh, we should get out of this stall."

Ludwig stood and held out his hand to help Feliciano up. Feliciano cried out and fell into Ludwig's chest.

"Ah! My ankle! I forgot I had-a sprained it," he whimpered at the memories from just a few hours ago with his brother. Ludwig nodded and wrapped his arm around Feliciano's waist to keep him steady.

"How did that happen? It looks like it's braced though, so that's good. I take it you found the Infirmary, then?" he asked, leading him out of the stall. Feliciano nodded.

"...Lovino found it..." he replied quietly, a tear slipping down his cheek as he leaned his thin frame against Ludwig's muscular body. Ludwig walked Feliciano out of the boy's bathroom.

"I see…what happened to your brother?" he inquired. Feliciano whimpered at the memory. Unable to say it, he pointed to the rope burn around his own neck. How his brother could do such a thing didn't make sense and Feliciano just wanted this all to be a horrible nightmare.

Ludwig's eyes widened.

"Oh…not in the same bathroom, surely?" he replied. Feliciano shook his head.

"Not in the same one... H-He was in the ragazza ba-bathroom..." his voice hitched at the memory, his limping steps faltering slightly. Ludwig assumed that meant the girl's bathroom.

"I see. Do…you want me to get him down? I would assume you wouldn't want him staying there like that," he offered. Feliciano looked up with red, tear-brimmed eyes.

"You would do that for me, Ludwig?"

Ludwig nodded.

"Of course I would. Do you want to wait here by the door or come with me?" he asked kindly. Feliciano hung his head.

"...I will wait. I don't think I could see him like that again..."

He felt ashamed for refusing to retrieve his brother's body but he was too upset to face such a sight. Ludwig gently pat Feliciano's shoulder.

"I understand. If anything happens while I'm in there, just call for me. I don't care how small it is, this place is dangerous," he told Feliciano before heading into the bathroom. Feliciano nodded and slid himself to the floor, wrapping his arms around his knees and hugging them closely.

Ludwig made quick work of taking Lovino down from his noose. He was quite surprised that Lovino had done such a thing – he certainly didn't seem like he would do it anyway. Ludwig set Lovino's body down on the floor. He closed Lovino's eyes and covered him with his coat. Ludwig stood and left the room.

"I'm finished," he said quietly. Ludwig shifted and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Feliciano…if it makes you feel any better, I don't think your brother knew what he was doing. This place is very strange and full of spirits….Hmm…."

Feliciano used the wall to help steady himself.

"Grazie, Ludwig... That makes me feel a little better," he replied, leaning into Ludwig's chest. Ludwig gave a soft grunt and curled his arm around Feliciano again.

"We…should look for the others. I have yet to see our teacher or Alfred, Matthew, Ivan, or Yao. They might all be together," he said, leading Feliciano down stairs. Feliciano nodded, a hopeful look coming back to his face.

"Yeah, they might be!" he agreed. Ludwig smiled, glad to hear Feliciano's cheerful self once more.

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><p>Arthur was really getting annoyed by his headache. That and the voices of all the spirits in the place really set him on edge. He was still even more ticked off because that doll hadn't worked. How were he and Francis supposed to get the murderer's remorse now?<p>

Francis looked at Arthur from the corner of his eye and poked his temple.

"What's with the bad attitude? Maybe I shouldn't have pulled you away from that doll's flames."

Arthur's eyebrow twitched.

"Keep your froggy hands off me!" he snapped, slapping Francis' finger away. "What kind of mood would you be in if spirits were constantly nattering away at _you_?"

Francis chuckled.

"And whose fault is all of this, hmm?" he reminded. Arthur whirled around and punched Francis straight in the jaw.

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP ABOUT THAT!? What more do you want me to do that I'm already not!? I'm trying to look for a way out! I know it's my bloody fault!" he shouted. Francis grunted from the force and stumbled backwards, rubbing his jaw. He was surprised that the Brit had that much strength. But he stopped talking.

Arthur glared at Francis, then turned and kept walking.

"It hurts….it hurts so much….even in death…the pain never stops….never….never….never stops…" moaned a small red spirit light as they passed by. Francis kept a safe distance from Arthur as they continued, the red light giving him an unsettling feeling.

Arthur glanced back over his shoulder. He did feel kind of bad for punching the bastard. Maybe he'd gone a little overboard.

"Hey, Francey-pants," he said, leading the way down a flight of stairs. Francis looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Oui? What is it?" he inquired. Arthur sighed.

"I wanted to apologize for punching you. You're still a complete arse, but, I didn't have to hit you because of it," he replied. Francis instantly slung his arm around Arthur's shoulders and rubbed his fist into the blonde hair.

"Ah, mon copain, you are forgiven. Ha-ha."

Arthur struggled in the Frenchman's grasp.

"Let go of me you twat!" he demanded. Francis let go and feigned offence.

"Oh! So mean!" he cried dramatically. Arthur stuck his tongue out at him.

"Great, now I smell like cheese," he grumbled, straightening out his clothes. Francis tried to hide his grin as he grabbed Arthur's hand in both of his.

"Oh how can you be so mean to moi?"

His eyes were exaggeratedly pleading. Arthur frowned.

"Easily," he said flatly, yanking his hands away. Francis smirked cockily and began to race down the stairs.

"Come on, Brit! Let's find the others and get out of this place!" he called over his shoulder. Arthur sighed and followed after.

"Careful, you twit! You could hurt yourself," he called after him. Francis scoffed and continued to take the steps two at a time.

"Oh, pfft. Come on-" As the Frenchman reached the bottom of the staircase, his voice was cut off and a _schlik!_ was heard. Francis' body fell forward onto the floor and his head rolled away... Bright red blood suspended in the air made the thin, and incredibly sharp, piano wire visible at the bottom steps.

Arthur came to a stop on the second to last step.

"F-Fran…cis? OH GOD!" he exclaimed, collapsing against the stairs from shock. Arthur didn't know how to react. His brain was refusing to process what had just happened. "Francis?"

Arthur slowly inched down the stairs and stepped over the wire.

"Francis?" he asked again, voice quivering. Arthur reached out, hesitated for a moment, then picked up Francis' head. He burst into tears, cradling his friend's severed head against his chest.

* * *

><p>Ivan didn't know what they should do. He was very much hoping their teacher would come back and find them so they could leave. Then again, it didn't seem like they would even be able to leave even with their teacher. Ivan looked over at Yao. If they were going to die here…<p>

"Yao…I have something I am wanting to ask you," he said. Yao was pulled from his quiet meditation and looked at his friend, bright brown eyes sparkling slightly.

"Yes? What is it, Ivan?" he smiled gently. Ivan was distracted for a moment by Yao's eyes. Yao always had such beautiful eyes.

"I was thinking…I don't know if we'll get out of here or not, but in case…well, I wanted to ask…Can I kiss you?" Ivan asked, looking hopeful. Yao's smile fell to a look of shock, a ruby blush racing across his cheeks. Ivan wanted to kiss him? After a moment of silence, Yao blinked and cleared his throat shyly.

"...Uh…W-Why do you want to do such a thing with me, I-Ivan...?"

The brunette fiddled nervously with his fingers inside his sleeves. Ivan blushed a little himself.

"Because I love you," he said with a smile. Yao's breathing stopped and his eyes widened. It took a few moments for the Chinaman to regain his composure, but when he did, he hid behind his brunette bangs.

"...Ivan. You are my best friend..."

He chewed on his bottom lip, anxious about what he was going to say. Ivan's smile dropped and he looked away.

"Oh…." he replied, disappointment clear in his voice. In the blink of an eye, Yao had scooted close enough to lean against Ivan's shoulder.

"Shì de, of course you can," his voice was a whisper but still very clear. Ivan looked down at Yao in surprise.

"I can?" he asked with a grin. Yao's bright eyes peeked out from his bangs, sparkling with anticipation, and he nodded.

"Shì de. I...want you to..." he replied, clearly shy. Ivan beamed. He reached over to cup Yao's cheek in one large hand and leaned close. Slowly Ivan pressed their lips together and immediately warmth and happiness surged within him. He had loved Yao since he first saw him, and now he was allowed to kiss him.

Yao leaned in, relishing the soft feel of Ivan's lips and gentle caress of his hand. He had always been very fond of the Russian and felt like they could talk about anything. It was a wonder this hadn't happened earlier. Yao's blush raged at his own thoughts and he slipped a hand up Ivan's arm to wrap around the back of his neck.

Ivan sighed into the kiss, enjoying the soft touch of Yao's hand. He hesitantly swiped his tongue over Yao's lower lip as he gently rubbed Yao's cheek with the pad of his thumb. Yao's heart flipped in his chest and he froze for a moment. Then he calmed and slowly parted his lips.

Ivan eagerly pushed his tongue past Yao's lips and into his mouth. He curled his other arm around Yao's waist and pulled him closer. The hand on Yao's cheek moved to stroke his hair. Ivan was euphoric as he thoroughly explored Yao's mouth.

Yao whimpered slightly. He had never done anything like this before and Ivan was clearly more than eager. Yao's hand gripped the white scarf and his other fisted Ivan's coat. Ivan soon had to breathe properly, and reluctantly broke the kiss. He smiled at Yao and laughed quietly.

"Yao is great kisser," commented Ivan, still holding Yao close. Yao's eyes fluttered open, the brown orbs almost looking drunk, and he blushed heavily.

"Xièxiè... But I believe I would be lying if I said you were not better," he complimented quietly, a small smile gracing his kiss-swollen lips. Ivan was quite happy with the compliment – he had never kissed anyone before.

"That makes me happy, mIlaya moyna," he said, kissing Yao's cheek. Yao's smile widened and he leaned into the kiss, his eyes slipping closed contentedly.

"I like it when you are happy, tiánmì yī..." he cooed, a small purr rumbling in his throat. Ivan wrapped his arms around Yao completely and rested his chin on top of his head.

"You make me happy, Yao. Ne magu zhIt bes tebya," he admitted the last bit rather shyly. Yao was not sure he understood all of what Ivan said but it made him feel fuzzy anyway.

"Can you...say that again? Please? I do not know enough of your language to understand all of it," he replied, a tad embarrassed. Ivan had usually used small, easily translatable Russian words when they spoke. Ivan smiled.

"Da, of course. I said I can't live without you," he explained, kissing Yao's forehead. Yao's heart jumped and he cuddled into Ivan's chest with a smile.

"Yě bùnéng, Ivan... I-I...Wǒ chóngbài nǐ," he whispered shyly. Ivan only had an idea of what Yao said because he'd been obsessively learning Mandarin. He grinned from ear to ear and began kissing Yao again. Ivan slowly trailed his kisses down from Yao's lips to his jaw, and then down to his neck.

Yao whimpered, slipping his hands up to tangle in the fair locks. He pulled his body as close as he could to Ivan's, loving the warm and excited feeling the Russian's lips left.

"I-Ivan...Mmm~," he moaned breathily, falling backwards onto the bed. Ivan barely noticed the change in position, he was too busy sucking a mark onto Yao's neck. Yao was his, and everyone would know it.

Ivan slid a hand under Yao's shirt and pressed it flat against his stomach. As he continued to kiss and nip at Yao's neck, he felt a bit bolder and let his hand creep up to caress his chest. Yao yelped in surprise, momentarily pushing Ivan away. He quickly pulled Ivan back, taking ahold of the white scarf and crashing their lips together.

"Ivan..." he moaned the Russian's name between quick kisses. Ivan was momentarily dazed from being pushed away and pulled back so quickly, but he happily accepted the kisses. He removed his hand and began unbuttoning Yao's shirt.

"Yao…you are so beautiful, da," Ivan panted, violet eyes dilating further as he ran his hands over Yao's sides. He let a hand slide back up and pressed his thumb against one of Yao's nipples. Yao moaned heavily and his back arched slightly. Ivan was bold and Yao was quickly finding that he liked it. He clenched Ivan's scarf and pulled it down, pressing a kiss to the soft flesh.

Ivan was instantly on alert. If Yao pulled his scarf down any further he'd see the bandages…Ivan couldn't help the appreciative groan, however, at the feeling of Yao's lips. He moved his hands down and pulled at Yao's pants, managing to yank them down after a bit of fumbling. Ivan knew they probably didn't have the time to waste with any foreplay - as much as he wanted to make Yao feel as amazing as possible, it would be bad if they were attacked by a ghost during this.

Yao pulled back again in surprise and slight embarrassment. He panted slightly, face turned away.

"Ivan... "

He was going to ask if this was a dream but something under the white scarf stopped him. Yao blinked once and focused his eyesight. Why did Ivan have bandages on his neck? Yao reached up and ghosted his fingers across the strips of cloth.

"What happened, wǒ de tiánmì?" he asked, worry riddled through his features. Ivan grimaced.

"Now is not time to think of such things, da? I will tell you after," he replied, not wanting to upset Yao right before getting to the good part. Ivan had not been dreaming of this moment for years just to be stopped right before it came true. He unbuckled his belt and pushed his pants down a bit.

Yao's eyes widened and he swallowed. Ivan was... Incredible.

"...Ivan."

He blushed heavily and shook his head once.

"...Too big," he mumbled, though made no move to protest any further. Ivan lifted Yao's legs up around his waist.

"I will prepare you well. I promise," he said earnestly. Ivan hadn't brought any lube, however, he had read of a suitable substitute. He held up his fingers to Yao's mouth. "Suck."

Yao licked his lips nervously, his heart beating against his rib cage like a wild animal. He nodded once and hesitantly slid Ivan's fingers into his mouth and began to suck. He moaned and his eyes rolled backwards. Ivan tasted wonderful.

Ivan blushed as he watched Yao. Yao's mouth around his fingers felt so wonderful – he could only imagine how it would feel lower…Ivan licked his lips and leaned down to kiss Yao's chest. Once he was sure his fingers were wet enough, he pulled them from Yao's mouth and moved his hand under Yao and pressed a finger to his entrance. Ivan groaned against Yao's chest as he pushed in the first finger. Yao was so tight.

Yao gasped, his hands clenching the thin blanket beneath them.

"I-Ivan! Please...take it out," he whimpered quietly, his brown eyes clenched tightly shut. Ivan's eyes widened and he quickly removed his finger.

"I am sorry, Yao! I didn't mean to hurt you, da!" he exclaimed, wrapping his arms around Yao and pressing his face against his chest. Yao gasped and hugged back.

"Bù, it's alright, Ivan. You didn't hurt me. I'm just...scared," he confessed, a whisper in the Russian's ear. Ivan looked at Yao, feeling relieved he hadn't hurt his love.

"What can I do to make you not scared?" he asked, rubbing Yao's thighs. Yao locked eyes with Ivan and his breath wavered.

"Promise me... Bùyào líkāi. Ever."

He hugged Ivan closely. Ivan took a moment to translate Yao's request in his mind.

"I promise, lyubov moya. I told you I can't live without you, and I meant it," he said, kissing Yao lovingly. Yao blushed and leaned forward, pressing their lips together in a sweet kiss. He gently griped Ivan's hand and guided it to his entrance once again.

"...I love you, Ivan..." he whispered, leaning their foreheads together. Ivan smiled.

"I love you, too, Yao," he replied, pushing his finger into Yao again. Ivan pressed kisses to Yao's face as he thrust his finger in and out of Yao, loosening him enough to add a second. Wanting to be sure Yao was stretched as much as possible, he soon added a third finger. Ivan spread and curled them, enjoying the feeling of Yao clenching around him.

Whimpers and moans squeaked from Yao's throat as the pleasure took over. He moaned Ivan's name and his hips jerked.

"Ah! Oh~! D-Do that again!" he gasped, gripping Ivan's shoulders tightly. Ivan nodded and pressed his fingers in deep again, brushing against the same spot as before.

"So beautiful," he sighed, gazing down at Yao. "Let me know when you're ready, da?"

Yao bit back a scream of pleasure and nodded.

"Please, Ivan...more." he pleaded with short breaths. Ivan's fingers felt fantastic but Yao wanted more. And he wanted it now. He suddenly wrapped his legs around Ivan's waist and pulled him close. "N-Now! I want you!"

Ivan was hard as a rock. Yao's begging was quite the turn on.

"Of course, moya solnishka," Ivan replied, removing his fingers. He spat on his hand, slicked himself, and lined up. Ivan gripped Yao's hips hard as he began pushing in. It was certainly difficult, especially as Yao tightened around him. "Yao…"

Yao gasped, a whimper escaping with it. He wasn't sure Ivan would fit. He began to tense and push on Ivan's shoulders then he forced himself to calm down. There was nothing for him to be afraid of. Ivan loved him and he wouldn't hurt him. Yao shut his eyes and pressed a kiss to one of Ivan's bandages.

Ivan couldn't push in further, Yao was clamping down too tightly.

"Yao…please relax," he said, reaching down to stroke Yao's cock. Ivan hoped that would provide some distraction and make Yao feel good. Yao whimpered in pleasure. Ivan's big hand felt incredible while stroking him. His body relaxed completely with a moan of Ivan's name.

Ivan sighed and gave a single hard thrust, completely burying himself inside Yao. He grunted and dropped his head down against Yao's shoulder. Ivan had never felt something so…perfect. Yao was perfect. Ivan kissed his shoulder.

A long, strangled moan escaped Yao's lips. He had never felt something so utterly incredible. Ivan fit inside him perfectly. Yao tilted his head and lightly kissed Ivan's temple. Ivan smiled happily against Yao's shoulder and shifted his head to gently nuzzle his neck. He gently pulled out just a bit, and pushed back in just as gently. Ivan kissed the mark he'd left on Yao's neck and repeated the motion. He was positive he wouldn't be lasting long. If they got out of the school alive, he'd definitely work on prolonging the experience for Yao.

Yao moaned long and low with each thrust. He wrapped his arms around Ivan's shoulders and slid his hands down to caress the soft skin of the Russian's back. He gently curled his fingers and scratched the pale skin just enough to leave red marks.

Ivan didn't even know he could growl, but the feeling of Yao's nails on his back certainly caused one to come out. He wasn't even paying attention to where he was kissing anymore. Ivan picked up the pace of his thrusts and stroked Yao at the same time.

Yao purred happily at Ivan's sexy growl and repeated the motion. He clenched his legs around Ivan's waist tighter and began to rock along with the amazing thrusts.

"Oh...Ivan yes!"

He quickly became more vocal as the intensity of Ivan's thrusts picked up speed. Ivan bit down lightly on Yao's neck and thrust even harder. Yao felt so good.

"Haaahhh…Yao…love you so much," Ivan panted. Yao cried out, his nails nearly breaking the skin of Ivan's back.

"I-Ivan! I'm going to...! Haaha!" Yao barely got his sentence out before his back arched off the bed and his body spasmed with his orgasm. Ivan gave a shout as he, too, came. His vision went white for a brief moment, and when it came back he dropped down on top of Yao, face pressed to the space between his neck and shoulder.

Yao's breath shuddered, the last few tremors shook his body before he opened his eyes and nuzzled his nose into the mop of fair hair on his shoulder. He took in the intoxicating scent and smiled, wrapping his arms around Ivan tightly.

"I love you, Ivan..." he breathed. Ivan smiled.

"I love you too, Yao. Always," he replied. Ivan knew he should get up and find something to clean themselves off with, but his limbs felt like jelly. He sighed and slowly forced himself up and out of Yao. Ivan pulled his pants back up and began to search the room for a clean bit of cloth.

Yao lay on the bed with lidded eyes. He was sad for the sudden loss of Ivan's warmth but he was still in a heavy bliss from what had happened. He finally turned over onto his stomach and pushed himself up, pulling his shirt back onto his shoulders and closing it.

"What are you doing, wǒ de ài?" he inquired, pushing his brown bangs from his face and gathering the rest of his hair back into its small ponytail. Ivan had opened several drawers before finding a cloth of some sort.

"We are filthy. I was looking for cloth to clean you with," he explained, walking back over. Ivan gently and swiftly cleaned both of them and tossed the cloth down a hole, not caring where it went. He climbed back onto the bed and pulled Yao down to lay beside him.

Yao blushed, forgetting for a moment about the mess they had made. He pulled his pants back up to rest on his hips and cuddled closely to Ivan, lying his hand over the Russian's heart.

"Thank you."

Ivan nodded and smiled.

"Of course. Is my job to protect you, da," he replied, kissing the top of Yao's head. Yao was touched. He cuddled closer, pressing his head into the crook of Ivan's neck and nuzzling the soft scarf. He began to wonder how this would affect their life after this place. If they ever left this place alive that is...

Ivan yawned and stroked Yao's hair absentmindedly. The one good thing about their situation was that he was with Yao, and for the rest of however long their lives were, he would be with him. Ivan grinned. And if they never saw anyone else…well, he wouldn't have to share Yao's time with anyone.

Yao pulled back slightly when he felt the scarf slip down Ivan's neck. He looked at the bandages and fell into a sad silence. He reached up and touched one as gently as he could.

"Ivan? What happened?" he asked. Ivan's smile disappeared. He had hoped Yao would forget about that.

"…My dad was not the nicest person in the world. He got angry easily, and generally took it out on me. I protected my big sister from him, so I got extra beatings. One day he took things too far. Big sister called police, and he was taken away," Ivan explained simply, his hold on Yao tightening slightly.

Yao's brown eyes widened and his breath hitched. He quickly sat up and took a better look under the scarf. He gasped at the amount of bandages. He felt like crying. Yao closed his eyes and leaned forward to kiss Ivan's forehead.

"I'm sorry, Ivan..." he sniffed. Ivan was a little surprised by the reaction, though he was always happy to receive a kiss from his love.

"Is alright, Yao. I am fine, da?" he replied with a small smile. Yao slid his fingers across Ivan's neck gingerly as he continued to plant small kisses across Ivan's face.

"Are you sure? Are you not hurting here?" he pressed his hand to Ivan's heart. Ivan frowned in confusion.

"My chest is fine, Yao," he said, gently rubbing Yao's back. Yao chuckled slightly and pressed their lips together.

"Is your heart, love? I don't want your heart to ache," he clarified. Ivan returned the kiss.

"Oh. I don't know. I am not as lonely when I'm with you…and I got rid of my pipe last year…Hmm," he hummed, not really sure what his heart felt like. Ivan really didn't think of it much. It might have hurt when he was young, but he didn't know for sure. Yao smiled and laid back down to cuddle into Ivan's side, pressing a kiss to a bandage on Ivan's throat.

"You will never be lonely again, Ivan. I will never leave your side," he cooed. Ivan sighed happily.

"Good," he replied, kissing Yao's forehead.

* * *

><p>Feliciano hobbled, with help from Ludwig, down the hallways toward the Infirmary filled with a new sense of hope. He looked up at Ludwig out of the corner of his auburn eye. He was beside himself with relief that his best friend had survived long enough for them to be with each other again.<p>

Ludwig kept a tight hold on Feliciano. He was surprised the Italian had made it for so long, especially with a sprained ankle. Ludwig was alerted from his thoughts by an extreme unease. He led them around a corner and that unease turned to outright dread. Ludwig was unsure why, though. The hallway was empty, and though the wall had a strange black shadow on it, shadows were harmless.

Scolding himself in his mind, Ludwig led Feliciano down the hall and over to the Infirmary. He went to open the door, but found it locked.

"Just great," Ludwig growled. Feliciano reached into his pocket and removed a hair pin with a smile.

"Scusi, Ludwig. I can fix it," he replied cheerily. He bent over and began to jingle the pin inside the lock. Ludwig waited, but after a few tries he knew it wouldn't work.

"Feliciano, let's just keep going. If it's too much for your ankle…I could…carry you on my back or something," he offered, looking rather embarrassed.

Feliciano giggled.

"Aw, you're so sweet, Ludwig. It is ok, my ankle, it feels better."

He stepped back, retrieving the hair pin and putting it back into his pocket. Ludwig gave Feliciano's ankle a doubtful look, but didn't press the issue.

"Fine. Then let's look downstairs. If the Infirmary is locked, then we might as well use this time to look for everyone," he said, leading Feliciano down stairs. The Italian nodded and followed.

"Where do you think they will be, Ludwig? Do you think they will all be together or will we have to look for everyone separately?" he asked, slipping his arm casually through the blond's. Ludwig shook his head.

"If the others are having as much trouble as we are, it is likely we will have a hard time finding them all. Just because we were dropped here with others, doesn't mean everyone was," he replied. Ludwig opened a classroom door and they stepped inside. He spotted something shining on the other side of the room; however, the huge hole in the middle of the floor prevented them from crossing.

"Looks like we'll have to go around," he muttered, leading Feliciano back out. When they entered the other door, the shiny object had moved to the side they had just been on. Ludwig growled in annoyance and led them back around. Again, the object was on the opposite side of the room.

"Feliciano. Stay right here. I'm going to go around the other side and see if that works," he said. Feliciano nodded and stood in the doorway, eye on the object across the room.

"Aye, cap'n!" he sang with a cute little salute. Ludwig gave a nod back and went around to the other side of the room. As soon as he entered the room, the shiny object had moved to Feliciano's side.

"Ah! Feliciano, grab it quick!" he ordered. Feliciano quickly reached down and grabbed it. He turned it over in his hand and looked at it in the darkness.

"It's a key! I wonder what it goes to. Ludwig, come look!" he called. Ludwig made his way over and took the key from Feliciano. He peered at it closely.

"Hmm…it says 'Custodian's Closet' on it," Ludwig said. "This is good. There could be useful things in there."

Feliciano smiled brightly and handed the key over.

"That is true. But first we have to-a find it."

His smile faltered slightly. Ludwig thought for a moment.

"Actually, I think I might have seen it while I was looking for you. I believe it is on this first floor," he replied, leading Feliciano out of the room. Ludwig recognized the area, so he was sure the Custodian's Closet was nearby.

It didn't take long for them to find the room. Ludwig opened the door and led Feliciano inside. The room was bigger than he would have thought. There was enough room for a small sink, a closet, and, strangely a TV stuck on static. Feliciano looked up and giggled at the TV.

"I will take a guess and say the Custodian was a bad one. Hehe." he reached up to shut it off but made a noise of confusion when he found that the button was already pushed to off. "Huh. That's odd."

Ludwig gave a grunt of agreement. He looked around the small room and spotted some paper laying on the edge of the sink. Ludwig picked it up.

"Hmm, looks like a newspaper article. 'Chasing Down the Hidden Past of the Cursed School – Follow-up Report.' How troublesome. The beginning is smudged. The end is still legible, though. 'In search of the truth behind the afflictions this incident incited, I chose to follow the trail of the mysterious little boy. Those who have seen the newspaper photos accompanying this article may remember Peter best as the boy in the strange sailor outfit. It is hard not to feel sympathy towards someone so young forced to watch others his ages tortured and killed, one by one. And certainly, if I were to find Mr. Kirkland and secure an interview, there would of course be moral concerns about dredging up such painful memories. However, he has been a full-grown and – hopefully – well-adjusted adult for over ten years now. By now, one would hope that he would be able to look back upon the events with some objectivity, and give a more thorough account of what happened that day'," Ludwig read.

Feliciano looked over at the article and shivered. He doubted he would ever be able to get over this experience if they got out alive.

"How horrible for a child to have to remember the same things over and over for the polizia and newspaper reporters," he replied in a saddened tone. Ludwig nodded and set the paper down.

"Yes, it is horrible," he agreed.

* * *

><p><strong>Translations:<strong> copain = boyfriend (French), mIlaya moyna = my sweet (Russian), tiánmì yī = sweet one (Mandarin), Ne magu zhIt bes tebya = I can't live without you (Russian), Yě bùnéng= neither can I (Mandarin), Wǒ chóngbài nǐ = I adore you (Mandarin), Bùyào líkāi = don't leave (?) (Mandarin), lyubov moya = my love (Russian), moya solnishka = my sunshine (Russian)


	8. Chapter 7

**AN:** Hey everyone! Sorry about the wait, but I've been a bit scattered recently, so….Anyway, here's chapter 7. Please enjoy and leave lots of reviews!

**Warnings:** Same as usual, violence, scary moments, nastiness

* * *

><p>Chapter 7<p>

Alfred gingerly blinked his eyes open with a groan. His vision was blurry and his head was spinning. He slowly sat up and looked around him; he was lying in a hallway and had a small stream of blood running from his forehead. He pulled his hand back to see the blood. It was somewhat dried. That had to mean he had been lying there for at least 25 minutes.

Alfred began to stand and look around.

"Huh, I don't recognize this place. I wonder where I am," he mused to no one. Alfred stood himself up and walked to a flight of stairs leading down. There were some missing steps and the railing looked as if it might crumble apart at the slightest touch.

"No way am I going down there," he remarked, continuing on down the hallway and leaning on the wall for support. The sound of sobbing echoed throughout the hallways.

Alfred's head jerked up at the sound and he scanned the hallway for the source. There was no one else around, living or otherwise. Alfred hurried toward the sound of the sobs, rounding a corner and down another hallway before he spotted someone with a mop of blonde hair ahead of him.

"Huh? Matty?! Is that you, man?!" he called. The sobbing continued. Alfred squinted as he got closer.

"Arthur?! Arthur, buddy!" he called out to his friend. Arthur's head snapped up and slowly turned to look back over his shoulder.

"Al…fred?" he gasped, teary eyes wide in shock. Alfred hurried to Arthur's side and threw his arms around the Brit.

"Oh, thank God! Are you hurt?" he began to babble. Arthur gasped again, this time from being unable to breathe. The force of Alfred's hug caused him to drop Francis' head.

"Alfred," he wheezed out. Alfred pulled back and his eyes wide as he noticed the body next to Arthur. He jumped back with a loud gasp.

"Oh god! Wh-Who-" it was then he noticed the head of their friend... and that Arthur's shirt was bloody. Alfred looked up at Arthur in horror.

"What happened...?"

Arthur looked down at his lap, tears continuing to flow down his cheeks.

"Francis…he…didn't listen. He…tripped. There's piano wire at the bottom of the stairs," he cried. Alfred looked over at the stairs, noticing the red wire at the bottom. He slapped his hand over his mouth as a gag rose up.

"...Oh...God... And you s-saw..."

Alfred felt sick as he placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder. Arthur turned and wrapped his arms around Alfred, sobbing into his chest.

"I t-told him t-to watch where he was g-going! But he didn't listen!"

Alfred, after the little shock wore off, embraced Arthur tightly and stroked his hair.

"Shh, it's ok, Arthur. It's alright, man," he said, trying to sound reassuring, but it was difficult. Arthur cried for a little while longer before managing to calm himself down. He took a few deep breaths.

"What…do we do with him? Surely we can't just…leave him there like that?" Arthur asked. Alfred looked down at Francis' body and sighed. He wasn't sure where they could take him. He gently pushed Arthur back and unzipped his leather flight jacket.

"I don't know where we could take him so we'll have to leave him here. But at the least we can cover him up," he replied, voice low with grief. Alfred pulled off his jacket and gingerly lie it over their friend's body.

Arthur nodded and wiped at his eyes. His cheeks turned pink in embarrassment. Arthur knew it was stupid to be embarrassed for crying, but he couldn't help it.

"Alfred…I didn't hate him. He annoyed the bloody hell out of me, but, he was still a friend. And…" he paused to sigh, "I want you to know, I don't hate you either. Just in case, something happens to either of us, I just…want you to know that."

Alfred paused for a moment and looked at Arthur. He had never seen the Brit look so...broken before. Alfred reached over and pulled the blonde close with one arm.

"Hey, now don't think like that. We'll get out of here, Arthur. I make you a hero's promise," he replied. He leaned close and whispered into Arthur's ear. "I know you don't hate me. So did Francis. And neither of us hate you."

Arthur wasn't sure whether to be relieved or blush and yell at Alfred for getting so close.

"I'm happy to hear that," he said simply. "Can we go? I really don't want to stick around here."

Alfred pulled back and nodded.

"Of course. Come on, let's find a way out of this Hellhole."

He held out a hand to help Arthur up. Arthur nodded and allowed Alfred to help him up, though he quickly took his hand back and began walking down the hall.

"So. Have you seen any of the others?" he asked. Alfred shook his head.

"No, in fact I was looking for Matty when I found you. We got separated a while back. I'm really starting to worry about him," he replied. Arthur looked at him.

"We'll look for him now, then. If he's in this same space, it shouldn't be too hard. After all, if you're here, that means some spaces have to be merging," he said with a hesitant smile. Alfred made a hum of agreement.

"I hope he's close. A kid like him is bound to be scared out of his mind all alone..." he replied. Arthur nodded.

"I would imagine so," he agreed. Arthur was glad for a distraction from his thoughts. If Matthew was indeed in the same space, they were getting closer to finding everyone. Suddenly Arthur halted. He gave a shuddering breath and his eyes went wide. "From red door….six steps south…thirteen steps east…"

Alfred froze in his tracks and looked at Arthur.

"Hey, man? You alright? What are you talking about?" he asked, voice shaking. Arthur gave another shuddering breath.

"Find…it…find…it…find…it…." he chanted flatly. Alfred took a step forward.

"F-Find what, man? What's going on with you?"

Arthur gave a gasp and his eyes closed. Almost instantly they re-opened and he blinked in confusion.

"Hmm? Alfred, you look spooked. What happened?" Arthur asked. Alfred stepped closer and poked Arthur's cheek cautiously, as if it might blow up.

"Are you...back?" he asked nervously. Arthur frowned and slapped at Alfred's hand.

"Don't poke me! And what are you talking about? I never left," he said. Alfred jumped with an 'eep' and shook his head with a chuckle.

"Yep, you're back. Dude, you were saying some really creepy shit and you looked like a robot." he explained. Arthur's frown increased.

"Damn it all. Again? Seriously, the spirits here are quite rude. They could at least ask for permission first," he ranted. Arthur sighed. "So, what was I saying? It could be important."

Alfred looked at the blonde with a raised eyebrow.

"'Again'?! Dude!" he thought back to what Arthur was saying and hummed. "Uh, you said uh... 'from the red door, six steps south... and uh...thirteen steps east.' You were also chanting 'find it' super boring-like," he responded. Arthur hummed and nodded.

"I see. Well then, we ought to find this red door. The spirits here are very persistent, and they likely won't stop bothering us until we find whatever it is they're looking for," he said matter-of-factly. Arthur determinedly set off along the hallway again.

Alfred quickly closed his mouth and caught up to the Brit.

"Hey, you just got freaking possessed by some freaky spirit! How are you so calm about it?!" he asked, gripping Arthur's shoulder. Arthur shrugged.

"I suppose I've gotten used to it. I mean, I used to talk to spirits before here, but after a few times of being actually possessed…Well, I don't have any means of preventing it while I'm here, so, as long as I'm not hurting anyone, I figure why bother being upset by it," he explained. Alfred's expression darkened.

"But you don't know what's going on when you're being possessed, man! What if you hurt someone and didn't know it?" he inquired worriedly. Arthur sighed.

"Like I said, I can't really do anything about it. All of my things are back home," he replied. "As much as I hate to admit it, you are strong, Alfred. If I were to become out of control, I don't doubt that you'd be able to keep me from hurting anyone until the spirit left."

Alfred blushed slightly then smiled.

"Hey, you know I'm strong! Otherwise I wouldn't be much of a hero, would I? Haha," he gloated, arm wrapped around Arthur's shoulder. Arthur had expected that reaction.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you twat," he grumbled, pulling away. "Keep an eye out for the red door."

Alfred pouted once but began looking.

"That's not very nice, Artie," he chuckled. Arthur glanced at him sidewise.

"I never claimed to be nice," he replied loftily.

As they traversed the halls, Arthur spotted a red-ish brown door. With a smile, he approached the door.

"Hmm, the sign says 'Custodian's Closet'…and it's locked. Oh well, that's not what we're here for. Do you think this is the red door?" Arthur asked Alfred. Alfred nodded.

"It's a reddish color and I think that's as close as we are going to get in a place like this." he confirmed. Arthur turned.

"Alright then. Now…six steps south and thirteen east was it?" he muttered. Arthur counted as he began walking down from the door.

"…Five…Six. Alright, now, east," he stopped and turned. Again, Arthur counted aloud. When he came to the final step, the floorboard beneath his foot squeaked loudly and shifted. "Hello! What do we have here?"

Arthur knelt down and pushed the board out of the way. Peering into the hole, he saw the shape of something lying in the darkness. He reached in and pulled out a small bag made of hemp that was coated in blood.

Alfred looked over Arthur's shoulder with a shudder.

"What is it, dude?"

Arthur shook his head and stood up. He noticed an ID tag attached to the front.

"'Sunnyside Middle School: Stefaan'…The rest of the ID is too smeared with blood. Suffice to say, whatever is in this bag, belongs to one of those children," Arthur explained. Reluctantly, he pulled the draw string and opened the bag. Arthur peered in and his face pales. "Oh god! It's…a tongue!"

Alfred yelped and jumped back.

"Ah! Get rid of it, dude!" he screamed. Arthur closed the bag.

"As much as I'd like to, I don't think that's a good idea. We were told to find this, correct? Well, I am sure the child this belongs to would appreciate having their tongue returned. Wait…maybe this will appease them! Alfred. When I was with…well, we met this girl named Natalia. She was the one who wrote the spell, and she said that if we appeased the spirits, the spaces could merge. Then we might be able to go home! Alfred, we have to find the children," he explained, getting more excited the more he talked. Alfred's eyes widened and he eyed the bag with a gulp.

"Ugh...Alright fine. Hey, what did this chick who wrote the spell look like?" he asked. Arthur decided to just hold onto the bag. He really didn't want it in his pocket.

"Hm? Oh, she was blonde, had a purple ribbon in her hair, and she had lifeless violet eyes," he explained. "Why?"

Alfred thought back.

"I think I met her... I think she gave me this." He pointed to the dried blood on his forehead. "She was freaky, man."

Arthur blinked.

"She didn't seem like the violent type…Well, if she shows up again, I'll ask her about her behavior. In the meantime," he let his sentence drift off as he walked down the hall. Alfred groaned.

"Yeah, right, the...tongues." he shuddered as he looked at the bag in Arthur's hand.

Arthur was rather glad that they didn't have to wander far. One of the children seemed to be patrolling the hallway to the right of them.

"Well, I certainly hope this is the right one," he said, approaching the spirit. The child noticed him and frowned.

"Gihhh ihhh bahhhhkkk!" the spirit demanded, heading for him. Arthur took a step back and held out the bag.

"Wait! Stefaan! Is…is that you? This is yours, right?" he asked. The child stopped and stared. Alfred watched the scene unfold with baited breath. He hoped the kid didn't get upset and attack Arthur.

The child stared at the bag.

"Uuoouuhhhh?" he moaned. Arthur began to worry. Maybe he had to show the child the tongue itself? Arthur opened the bag and, grimacing, pulled out the tongue.

"Stefaan…we're giving you your tongue back," he said. The child's eyes widened.

"My hunnngggg…." said the spirit. The boy reached out. "My….tongue!"

The bag and tongue dissolved. Arthur wasn't sure how to proceed from here. The boy blinked at them, and then smiled sweetly.

"Thank you," Stefaan said and disappeared. Alfred let out a breath of relief and stepped up to Arthur.

"That was tense. You alright, man?" he asked, hand on the blonde's shoulder. Arthur shuddered.

"I feel like throwing up after touching that, but, I'm alive so I'm fine," he replied with a half-smile. Alfred pat him on the back gently.

"You sure, dude? You look a little green," he mentioned a little worried. Arthur nodded.

"Yes, I'm sure. I -" he gave a gasp as the building began to shake. "Not another earthquake!"

Alfred gave a yelp and clenched onto Arthur.

"Ah! Make it stop!" he cried. Arthur was about to reply when the shaking stopped.

"Hff...You're such a baby," he huffed, rolling his eyes. Suddenly Arthur's body tensed up and his eyes glazed over.

"Go…to where…the floor collapsed….and then got better. One step east….ten paces north…." he wheezed. Alfred jumped off his friend with an 'eep'.

"Aw dammit, not again! Alright I got it, now get outta my friend, man!"

He shook Arthur by his shoulders, hoping the spirit would leave. Arthur gave another gasp and slowly came back to himself.

"Stop shaking me, dammit!" he snapped, pushing at Alfred's shoulders. Alfred stopped and set his jaw.

"Gee wiz, the thanks I get for getting that freaky spirit out of ya," he retorted in a huff. Arthur hmphed.

"Yes, because all the expert exorcists know that shaking someone is the best way to stop a possession," he replied sarcastically. "It probably left on its own. So, what did it say this time?"

Alfred stuck his tongue out at the Brit and crossed his arms.

"'Go to where the floor collapsed and then got better. One step east, ten paces north'," he recited. Arthur frowned.

"That one is going to be tough. There are probably a lot of places where the floor collapsed and then 'got better'….wait! Francis and I were going down the stairs and on the landing there was a huge section of collapsed floor. There was an earthquake then, and some boards fell down to cover the hole. Maybe that's it?" he exclaimed. Alfred nodded.

"Hell yeah! I bet that's it!" he grabbed Arthur's hand and started running. Arthur's eyes widened.

"You're a lunatic!" he shouted, trying to keep up with Alfred. Alfred looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Says the dabbler of black magic and the one who keeps getting possessed," he snorted. Arthur grumped quietly as Alfred pulled him along. He had to look away when they reached Francis' body. Arthur dashed ahead of Alfred and came to a stop once he reached the landing.

Alfred hurried over and looked at the boards over the hole.

"Hey, I think I see something..." he said, reaching down into the hole. Arthur walked over and watched as Alfred pulled out a key.

"Huh, well, I was expecting another tongue bag, but this works too, I suppose," he commented. Arthur peered around the taller blond and looked closely at the key. "A gym key? How strange."

Alfred turned it around in his hand.

"Yeah. Maybe the next bag'll be in the gym." he replied with a smile. "Should be pretty easy to find if so. A gym is pretty damn open."

Arthur nodded.

"Yes, true," he agreed. Arthur wondered where the gym could be. In all their wanderings, he had yet to see anything about a gym. Alfred stood and pocketed the key.

"Now, if I was a gym, where would I be?" he mused, pushing his glasses up. Arthur shrugged.

"First floor somewhere?" he suggested, heading back downstairs. Alfred shrugged in response.

"Maybe. It's as good a place as any to start I guess. Let's go," he replied, following.

Arthur wondered how big the school could possibly be. As he and Alfred came to a stop at the end of a hallway that had certainly not been there before.

"This entire school is ridiculous," he muttered, walking down the hall to a set of double doors. Alfred nodded.

"Yeah I agree. How did anyone find their way around here when it wasn't haunted?" he looked into the small windows on the double doors.

"Hey, this looks like it might lead to a gym."

Arthur looked over at Alfred.

"It's my guess that this school is made more maze-like by the entities here. Also, if this is the gym, you should probably use your key, twit," he said snippily. Alfred set his jaw.

"Do you want me to help you or not?" he snipped back. Arthur raised a large eyebrow.

"Will you just open the door? We have a tongue to find," he replied. Alfred grumbled as he took out the key and opened the door.

"There. Happy now?"

Arthur smiled.

"Yes," he said, and walked inside. The gym was almost completely destroyed, not that Arthur should have expected any different. There were barely any places to walk on, and what there was tended to be blocked by fallen beams or bits of wall.

Alfred grumbled and climbed over a fallen beam.

"Alright, smarty-pants, where is the tongue?"

Arthur frowned and followed.

"How the hell should I know?" he asked. Arthur spotted some lockers against a wall. "Maybe those lockers over there?"

Alfred walked over to the lockers and started to try and open them.

"Some of these are locked. How are we gonna look inside them?" he grumbled. Arthur stood on his tiptoes and peered through the slats of one of the locked lockers.

"Well, this one we don't need to worry about. It's empty," he said. Arthur moved to the next one, and did the same. "And unless you want a dead body, this one is useless too."

Eventually he came to a locker he could open. The door squeaked and when Arthur peered inside, he spotted another bloody hemp bag.

"Here we go," he muttered, picking it up. "The ID on this one says 'Sunnyside Middle School: Zane Williams'."

Alfred grimaced at the smell and swallowed.

"Alright, let's get the thing to this Zane kid and find the others," he replied. Arthur nodded and led the way out of the gym.

They searched the building for the child spirits, and eventually spotted both waiting outside a classroom door. Arthur cautiously approached them. It was clear the spirit missing most of its head was Zane.

"Zane Williams?" he called and got a sputter and gurgle in response. Arthur pulled the tongue from the bag. "Zane, we've brought you your tongue."

The child walked closer, blood gushing from the gaping hole. He stopped and gave an inquiring gurgle. The spirit gave a sudden gasp and began coughing. Arthur watched in surprise as the bag and tongue dissolved and the spirit disappeared.

Alfred stepped up to Arthur.

"Huh, nice kid. Didn't even say thanks," he snorted. "Alright what now?"

Arthur looked up to see the girl spirit glaring at them. As she approached she let out an angry hiss.

"I think we ought to run, she doesn't look very happy," he said, grabbing Alfred's arm and pulling him away. Alfred yelped and ran from the girl.

"Goddamn! What is it with the chicks in this place?!" he commented as he weaved in and out of the hall, avoiding the holes. Arthur eventually stopped running and looked back over his shoulder. The ghost child was nowhere to be seen. He sighed and leaned against a wall.

"So, the final tongue ought to belong to that girl. She was also missing an eye….Hopefully we don't have to go and find that too," Arthur said. Alfred nodded in disgust.

"Eww, yeah I hope we don't have to find an eye, too. Gross," he replied. Arthur nodded. Before he could start walking again, his body tensed up and his eyes went blank.

"…Where your friend was splattered…the floorboards beneath that wall….right under his globby entrails….where the floor dips…and the blood pools….drip…drop…drip…drop…eheheheh…hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" Arthur laughed like a maniac, head tilted back, and his mouth unnaturally wide. Alfred jumped back with wide eyes.

"H-Holy shit! What the Hell, dude?! C-Can't you just appear to us and tell us instead of invading someone?! Get outta him!" he yelled at the spirit. Arthur stopped laughing but began to pace, muttering incoherently to himself and gripping at his hair. He stopped, groaned, and collapsed to his knees. Alfred stepped over and cautiously placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder.

"H-Hey, are you alright, man? Are you back to yourself?" he asked, unsure of what to expect. Arthur panted softly, rubbing his head.

"Ooohh….my head is killing me," he groaned. Arthur slowly got to his feet and leaned against the wall again. "Damn."

Alfred squeezed Arthur's shoulder gently.

"You were possessed again, man... You...You are not going to like what happened..." he replied. Arthur gave him a confused expression.

"Oh? What did I say this time?" he asked as the pounding in his head began to fade. Alfred chewed his lip nervously.

"Um... You said... ' where your friend was splattered, the floorboards beneath that wall...right under his g-globby entrails...where the floor dips and the blood pools...' then you started to laugh like a madman..." Alfred stated, feeling a little pale. Arthur looked horrified.

"That means…one of the others has died? And…we have to look under their…I think I might be ill," he said, looking distressed. Alfred nodded.

"Yeah... me too."

He swallowed hard and rubbed his temple, fighting back a wave of nausea. Arthur paced.

"We have to…I don't know if I can do such a thing but – damn this place!" he exclaimed, quickly wiping the tears from his eyes. "There's not much of a choice…if we don't appease the spirits, we'll never leave."

Alfred hummed in agreement.

"Yeah...this is gonna be tough," he replied, forcing his own tears back as he clapped his hand on Arthur's back. Arthur nodded and took a deep breath.

"Alright. So, um, you haven't happened to see anything that could be what was described before we met up, have you?" he asked. Alfred thought back.

"I don't think so... We might have to just look around till we...find them..." he replied, saddened. Arthur sighed.

"Very well," he said, and began to walk down the hallway. They walked through the labyrinthine halls and up and down flights of stairs until, eventually, Arthur stopped them by the Infirmary. A sense of dread had settled in his gut, and the sound of flies buzzing and something thick dripping up ahead did not help.

Arthur slowly walked farther along the hall, before coming to a halt. The mass of gore splattered against the wall and floor up ahead caused him to turn and throw up a little in his mouth. He clutched his stomach with one hand, and clapped the other over his mouth, trying to keep from retching.

Alfred gasped and clapped a hand over his mouth quickly with a gag.

"Oh...god..." he gasped between gags.

"W-Who is it...?" he inquired. Arthur shook his head.

"How the hell should I know? There's nothing left of them," he snapped, looking away from the scene. Arthur felt a little faint, so he braced himself against a wall. Alfred reached over to steady his friend, looking at the scene for where the spirit had mentioned. He swallowed as he remembered the voice... 'right under his globby entrails.' Alfred threw up in his mouth and gave a pant.

"O-Ok... I'll just hurry in, find whatever is under the damn floorboards and then we can get the hell out."

Arthur looked up.

"Are…you sure? I can help," he offered, turning to face the mess again. Arthur grimaced. Alfred shook his head.

"No, man, it's alright. I can get in and get it quicker than both of us..." he replied, putting on a facade of bravery. Arthur nodded.

"Alright. Good luck, then," he replied, knowing he probably would throw up if he attempted to look for the bag. Alfred nodded and, with a deep breath, he ran across to the gore.

The smell was overwhelming and the squish of each step didn't help in the least. Once Alfred reached the wall, he swallowed the bile threatening to show itself and reached down to the floorboards, having to wipe away the blood and... other things. Alfred gasped at the feeling of the gore slipping and squishing through his fingers as he pulled a floorboard up.

"Oh, dear god...Ugh!" he coughed and gagged, placing the board to the side and reaching down into the space.

"Ugh... something is here- guph! I t-think it's a b-b-bag!" he called, pulling the small, blood-soaked package out and standing. As he turned to make his way back, he slipped and fell face-first into the gore.

"Oh, god no! Ugh..." he quickly picked himself up and made his way back to Arthur. Arthur gasped when he saw Alfred fall, and when he got close, Arthur pulled a tissue from his pocket and reached up to wipe at Alfred's face.

"Are you alright?" he asked worriedly, taking the bag from him. Alfred nodded then fell to his knees as his body jerked with gags and coughs.

"That was...absolutely horrible!" he managed between waves of puke. Arthur managed to dodge the vomit and looked away.

"I'm sorry you had to do that," he said. Arthur didn't know what to do to make Alfred feel any better. Soon enough, Alfred's nausea left and his breathing returned to normal.

"What's in the bag? Please tell me I don't have to go back in there, dude." Of course he would if he had to, but he would rather not. Arthur opened the bag and looked inside.

"It's definitely a tongue," he said, closing it again. Arthur looked at the ID attached to the front. "It belongs to Wyuna Massey, from Sunnyside Middle School."

Alfred breathed a sigh of ultimate relief.

"Alright let's give it back to her and then get the Hell out of here." he began walking down the hallway.

"Agreed," Arthur said, following after Alfred.

They managed to find the ghost child rather quickly, as she hadn't left the area they had seen her earlier. Arthur, trying not to think about it, pulled the tongue from the bag and approached the girl.

"Wyuna Massey…we've brought you back your tongue," he said, holding out the tongue. The girl's single eye widened and she reached out for the bag. Like the others, the bag and tongue dissolved.

"Hannhh you," Wyuna said. "…Thank you very much."

Wyuna smiled and disappeared. Alfred smiled crookedly and gave a thumbs-up.

"You're welcome, that's what heroes do," he chuckled, pulling Arthur into him. Arthur gasped indignantly and smacked at Alfred's chest.

"Just what do you think you're doing!? Let go of me! You're covered in blood!" he snapped. Alfred looked down at himself and gagged.

"Ughf! Sorry, man. I forgot. Let's find a bathroom so I can get cleaned up."

Arthur grumbled at the added blood on his uniform.

"There's no point. The pipes here are broken or something, so none of the sinks in this place work," he said with a sigh. "Honestly, if we don't get out of here soon, we're likely to die of thirst."

Alfred went serious, lips pursed into a straight line.

"Then we will have to get out of here before that happens..." he replied, determination shining through his eyes. "Come on, let's find the others and get out of here."

Arthur nodded.

"Yes, now that we've appeased those three, the spaces out to start merging even more," he agreed. Suddenly the building began to shake, even more violently than before. It sent the both of them crashing to the floor.

"UUAAHHH!" Arthur yelped in surprise. Alfred fell with a hard thump and a cry of fear.

"Ahh! Shit!" he clenched his eyes shut and threw his arms over his head. The shaking got worse, causing windows in other rooms to shatter, floorboards to collapse, and rubble to fall. Arthur gave a shout of panic as a bit of floor fell and smacked Alfred in the head, knocking him unconscious. Arthur tried to crawl over to him but a sudden pressure in his head stopped him. Before he knew it, everything was going blurry and then went black.


	9. Chapter 8

**AN:** Hey, just so everyone knows, my posting has been interrupted since I have gotten a job. I will try not to take too long to post the rest of the chapters. Also, reviews are encouraged.

**Warnings:** Do I need to anymore? It's not any worse than the previous chapters…

Chapter 8

Alfred blinked awake and groaned as he sat up.

"Ow, damn what the Hell happened-huh?" he looked around and noticed that he was back in their school! "Alright, man! Hey, Arthur! Look we're back, dude!" he looked around and noticed the blonde next to him. Arthur groaned softly, slowly coming to.

"Ugh, what?" he muttered, looking up at Alfred. It took Arthur as second to notice their surroundings were very different from before. He got to his feet and looked about himself. "Is this…our school?"

Alfred grinned widely and threw his arms around Arthur's shoulders.

"Yeah, man! We're back!" he cheered. Arthur grinned and hugged him back, laughing gleefully.

"We're back!" he agreed. Arthur looked around again, and pulled away to walk over to the windows. Arthur yanked one open and gave a happy 'whoop'. The windows opened! That had to mean it was real. Arthur didn't care about the rain falling in on him, or the single rumble of thunder, they were back!

"Alfred, the others ought to be here as well!" he said hopefully. Arthur hurried to the door and pulled it open. Peering out, he could see absolutely nothing. The hallways was pitch black, save for the red glow of the exit sign, and the only sound came from the quiet ticking of the clock, which showed it was 8:00. Arthur frowned. They had surely been gone longer than an hour…Something felt off. Arthur shut the door and stepped back into the classroom.

Arthur spotted movement in the corner of the room and gasped. The black mist continued to move and grow until it covered an entire corner. Alfred followed his friend's line of vision and his smile fell.

"What the hell?! But-But-But we're back! Aren't we?" he got a chill up his spine. The black shadow pulsed and shifted.

"I-I thought we were!" Arthur exclaimed. A blue light emerged from the darkness and as it approached, it took the form of the little girl with the missing eye. Alfred stepped over to stand next to Arthur.

"Hey, man, what does she want?" he asked, nervously. Arthur shook his head.

"I don't know!" he snapped. The girl approached slowly.

"…It was a rainy night after school, much like this one…the day I was kidnapped," she said, looking at them sadly. "I remember…I argued with my parents that morning…"

Alfred's eyes jumped between the girl and Arthur.

"I-I'm sorry..." he didn't know what else to really say. The girl looked down.

"I…I was still upset…so after school, I didn't go home. That's….That's when Mr. Jungsai appeared. He sat down next to me outside in the rain. He listened to me when I told him about the argument. Mr. Jungsai was odd, but nice. He listened to everyone...anyone that needed to talk. But then…." the girl broke off into quite weeping. After a moment she stopped. "You two are nice. I'm so sorry."

Alfred held out a hand to her.

"Hey, hey, it's alright. What do you have to be sorry about?" he asked. The girl sighed sadly.

"Your friend…We….I'm sorry…." she replied. "I did want to thank you, though. For doing what you did for us."

"Wyuna, right?" Arthur asked. The girl nodded, looking slightly surprised. "We brought you your tongue back. Shouldn't you be at peace now? Didn't we succeed?"

Wyuna shook her head.

"No. You didn't," she said.

"But the tongues...and the murderer repented!" Arthur protested. Wyuna looked up at them.

"It isn't about our forgiveness. Repentance is what will move us on," she explained. "But…his repentance is not enough."

Alfred looked between the two, confused.

"What do you mean? What do you need?"

Wyuna was quiet for a moment.

"I'm just glad I was able to get even just you two out," she said softly. Alfred was confused.

"I don't get it…why are you suddenly so concerned?" he demanded. Arthur looked at Alfred.

"Alfred, let's give her a chance to explain herself. I…read about something like this before. When someone dies suddenly and violently, they are left with worries and regrets. With all sorts of emotions and worries swirling around inside their head….and they start acting without any sort of control," he said. Arthur turned back to Wyuna. "Please, we do understand what you're going through. So, can you bring back the others?"

Wyuna shook her head sadly.

"That's…not possible anymore. I'm sorry. The school has taken too many lives. The agony and despair has filled every inch of it and there's no room left. It's begun feeding on the minds of us spirits….It won't be long before a return to being a vengeful spirit who attacks people without mercy," she explained. "You need to return. You need to return to the school, and appease all four of us. If you do, we will no longer be the cogs that hold the spaces together."

Alfred frowned.

"You've got to be kidding me! We have to appease you again!? Why wasn't the first time good enough?" he demanded. Wyuna turned away.

"It's….I don't want to remember…." she replied. Wyuna disappeared and reappeared right in front of Arthur. "But, if you really want to know. I'll tell you everything….everything that happened."

Wyuna reached out and took Arthur's hands in hers. Arthur shuddered as she merged into his being. Alfred was shocked.

"Arthur!?" he exclaimed.

"It hurts…It HURTS!" Arthur screamed as everything around him dissolved into blackness.

'_What…? What's going on? I thought I passed out…but I'm awake. Why can't I see? I…I can't move! Why can't I move?!'_

"Why can't I move?!" Arthur exclaimed in fright. After a moment his vision cleared. Arthur blinked and waited for his eyes to adjust.

He turned his head this way and that, examining the room he was in and the fact that there were three boys on either side of him. Arthur quickly recognized them as the kidnapped students from the newspaper. They were alive, but bound hand and foot and blindfolded. Arthur and the children were all lined up on the floor. He could tell that he, too, was bound at the wrists and ankles.

Arthur felt his heart break when he heard the child furthest from him begin to sob. The boy on his right began to whimper and call for help. Arthur's eyes widened when the teacher, Mr. Jungsai came into view. He stood over them, looking down at them with blank eyes. The teacher knelt down over Arthur, and to Arthur's horror, tied a blindfold over his eyes. Arthur began panicking even more.

"No! I can't see!" he cried out. Arthur tried to calm himself and listened intently to what was going on around him. He could hear the children sobbing in terror – could hear the crying echoing off the walls of the tiny room. Arthur could hear himself start to beg and plead to be let go, but he received no response.

"In…order."

Arthur froze. That had to have been the teacher's voice. He didn't know what he meant by in order though.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AAAAAH! AAAAAAAGGGGHHHH! YEEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Arthur felt his heart nearly stop. He'd never heard such screaming before. It was pure, primal terror. From what he could tell, it was coming from the boy furthest from him. The screaming went on for what felt like an eternity. Arthur whimpered quietly. What was that monster doing to that boy?

After what was surely an hour, the screams stopped.

"NO! NO! No! No! No….NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Arthur gasped. It was the boy right next to him screaming now.

"AUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGG! Ung….oolh…."

The sound of something heavy falling repeatedly right next to him sent shivers down Arthur's spine. There were several sickening splats, and he felt something wet and thick hit his face. The sounds continued until it just sounded like squishing. There was a gurgling and sputtering - then the sound of something tearing, and heavy splats. Silence.

Arthur was shaking. The boy had finally died. He squeezed his eyes shut, horrified at his own thoughts. Arthur had been waiting, wanting, that boy to die, just so he didn't have to listen to the sounds any more. He hated himself.

Arthur was brought back to what was happening when footsteps approached him. That meant…he was next! Arthur gasped as his hair was grabbed and his head yanked up. He felt someone fiddling with his blindfold. It fell away, and Arthur cried out in surprise.

Staring back at him, grinning ear to ear, and holding a pair of large, blood soaked sewing scissors, was a blonde boy of about twelve. The boy began to giggle. Arthur heard the sound of the scissors snipping open and closed, the sound echoing ominously off the walls.

The boy lifted the dull, rusty scissors up and slowly lowered them closer and closer to Arthur's left eye.

"No…No! No! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The pain was indescribable.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Arthur wanted to fall unconscious. He could feel his consciousness start to fade, only to be brought back by the pain.

"Hehehehehehahahaha!"

The scissors were brought down, over and over and over again.

"AAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHAAAAAA!"

"Hehehe! You're a stubborn one, aren't you?"

"AAAAAHHHH! Please! Help me! Someone!"

"You know…the pain would be over if you'd just die already….Hehehehe! There! It's all mushy! Now…let's scoop it aaaaalllll out."

Arthur could only moan pitifully.

"Okay….moving on! Open wide and say 'Aaahh'! Hahahaha!"

"NO! NO! Please, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Matthew could hear Andersen following him as he ran back into the first building. He stumbled over a bit of rubble, but kept going.

"Maaaaaaattheeeeeewwwwww!" called Andersen's voice from behind. Matthew made a noise of fright and ran faster.

"I'm going to kill you, Matthew!" Andersen called cheerfully. Matthew began to cry. Why did Alfred have to leave him?

"Come out, come out wherever you aaaaare!"

Matthew was beginning to tire out. He panted and wheezed as he turned down one hallways after another.

"Run, rabbit, run! Hahahahahahahahahahaha!" Andersen cackled, chasing after the smaller blonde. A sudden pain shot through his head and Andersen collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"NOOOO! DON'T KILL ME! DON'T KILL MEEEE!"

"Arthur snap out of it!"

Arthur's eyes flew open with a gasp. He sobbed loudly, clutching at the ground in front of him. Arthur panted and wheezed, then began to cough.

"Arthur?" Alfred asked, placing a hand on the Brit's shoulder. Arthur turned and sobbed against Alfred's shoulder. Alfred jumped slightly in surprise, then awkwardly pat his back.

"Uhh…It's okay, dude, please, calm down. Really, everything is fine," he said.

"That's what happened to me," Wyuna told them sadly. Alfred looked startled.

"What? What happened? Arthur, what did you see?" he asked. Arthur eventually calmed enough to be able to speak.

"I…I saw…the killer," he panted.

"Huh?"

"Alfred…the killer isn't the teacher…That's why the repentance wasn't enough!" Arthur exclaimed. Alfred's eyes widened.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait. You, were actually there!?" he asked. "You saw the whole damned thing?"

Arthur nodded.

"Yes. I saw…everything. I saw it through Wyuna's eyes," he replied. "The murderer…is a little boy. Peter, I think his name was."

"What? You mean…a child killed them? How could a child do that?" Alfred exclaimed. "That's impossible! What about that teacher?"

Arthur shook his head.

"The teacher was just an accomplice. In fact, the entire time Peter was killing those children, he was in the corner of the room, shaking in fear," he replied. "I still don't know why he helped, though. Anyway, we have to tell everyone else about this."

Alfred rubbed his head, still looking a little baffled.

"Yeah," he agreed hesitantly. Arthur sighed.

"If we don't…Peter could catch them unawares and kill them," he said. Arthur turned to Wyuna. "Wyuna, please, take us back. We'll find a way to put you and the other spirits trapped there to rest."

Wyuna looked unsure.

"I…wouldn't recommend that," she replied. "Due to what you and your friends have done, those spaces are in a state of unrest…If I brought you back, even if I stayed normal, I wouldn't be able to bring you back home again."

Arthur frowned in worry.

"But if we don't go back, everyone will die," Alfred piped up. Arthur nodded.

"Yes, so, please take us back," he requested again. Wyuna sighed.

"Alright," she agreed.

Arthur and Alfred found themselves in a dilapidated classroom.

"I'm really sorry…I wish you both the best of luck," Wyuna said. The two turned to see the ghost girl standing near the doors. "I have something for you. I think your friend Ludwig will find it useful."

Wyuna approached Arthur and handed him a marble statuette of a dragon. Alfred scratched his head.

"Why don't you just give it to them?" he asked Wyuna looked away.

"Peter's following them around the school right now. I can't get close. There's another statue like this one. If you find it, please make sure he gets that one as well."

Arthur nodded.

"I will make sure of it," he promised. Wyuna gave a brief smile. Her gloomy countenance returned.

"The three of us are prepared for the challenges ahead, now that we have our tongues. But, you should know, that due to our short awakening, the balance of these spaces have begun to collapse. Be very careful," she told them. "Also, please remember, in order for Peter to feel remorse, you have to appeal to his humanity. You must purify his soul….My mind is already being attacked. The next time you see me…run."

Arthur and Alfred watched as Wyuna disappeared. Alfred looked at Arthur.

"We should focus on finding the others," he said, unusually solemn sounding. Arthur agreed. The two left the room and began to search the halls. Arthur spotted something on the ground and walked over to it.

"It's Feliciano's ID and paper scrap," he said, surprised as he picked it up.

"We can return it once we find him," Alfred replied with a smile. Arthur nodded.

Ludwig had sat down and allowed Feliciano to sit in his lap. Since the Infirmary was locked and this place, though rather bad smelling, was looking safe. Ludwig would allow Feliciano to rest for a little while here before they got going again.

Feliciano leaned against Ludwig's broad chest as he slept peacefully. His small, lithe chest moved up and down with each gentle snore. He had fallen asleep almost instantly after Ludwig invited him to rest. The Italian was indeed, exhausted.

Ludwig watched Feliciano sleep. He was glad his friend had managed to fall asleep; after all that had happened, he had thought sleep would be impossible. Ludwig leaned his head back against the wall behind him. He hadn't told Feliciano about Gilbert and Antonio, despite knowing he'd have to eventually. Ludwig didn't want Feliciano to break down any further.

Feliciano grumbled once in his sleep and turned into Ludwig's chest; his fist clenching his friend's shirt tightly. Ludwig gently stroked Feliciano's hair. It was nice to relax. The room shook like mad, sending a beam from the ceiling crashing down right in front of them.

Feliciano woke with a scream and wrapped his arms around Ludwig's shoulders, hiding his face in the German's chest.

"Ahh! Ludwig, what's happening?!"

Ludwig held Feliciano close.

"An earthquake!" he replied, moving to shield Feliciano from the debris. The shaking subsided and everything was calm again. "Scheiße."

Ludwig stood, bringing Feliciano with him.

"I think we ought to leave. If there's another one, we're sitting ducks in here," he said. Feliciano nodded quickly and stepped over the fallen beam carefully.

"Where do you think we should go?" he asked, opening the door. Ludwig shook his head.

"At this point, I don't know. This place seems endless. I would imagine that if we just keep going, we'll run into the others eventually," he replied. Ludwig hated not having a clear course of action, but he didn't have much of a choice. Feliciano gave a nod and grabbed Ludwig's hand.

"Let's go this way," he urged, attempting to pull the German to the left with a smile that would melt the coldest of hearts. Ludwig nodded.

"Very well," he agreed. It wasn't like it mattered what way they went. Ludwig walked with Feliciano along the hallway, noticing things seemed a little different. He couldn't exactly place what was different about it, though.

As they walked along, Ludwig heard the sound of voices coming from a distance.

"Feliciano, come this way," he said, pulling the Italian along behind him as he turned down a different hall. They soon had to stop, however, because there was a hole blocking there path.

"….I think…I hear Alfred's voice," Ludwig muttered. Feliciano listened for a moment then gasped.

"That Is Alfred!"

He squinted his bright brown eyes in an attempt to see across the hole.

"Alfred! Are you there?!" he called. Ludwig listened for a response.

"Alfred you twit! It came from over here!"

Ludwig couldn't help but chuckle.

"It seems Arthur is with him," he commented. Ludwig then called out in his booming voice, "Alfred, Arthur! Over here!"

Alfred's voice replied this time.

"Huh? Hey, Ludwig, is that you, dude?!" he asked. Feliciano giggled and waved to the darkness.

"And Feliciano! Hehe!"

Ludwig watched as Alfred and Arthur came into view.

"It is good to see you two. It would be better if this hole wasn't in the way, though," Arthur said with a smile.

"Yeah. I have to admit, though, that I am surprised we managed to find each other. This school is like a maze," Ludwig replied. Feliciano latched onto Ludwig's arm after he heard a creak.

"And it's scary too!" he cried. Alfred nodded.

"You two look like you've had a better time than we have. Are either of you hurt?"

Ludwig gestured to Feliciano.

"He twisted his ankle. Otherwise, we are fine. Have you seen anyone else here?" he asked. Arthur looked down.

"Yes. I was originally here with Francis…but, he's dead," he explained. Ludwig nodded somberly. Feliciano froze and tears began to gather in his eyes, his grip on Ludwig's arm tightening. Alfred hung his head sadly.

"Yeah... And I was with Mathew. But I we got separated and I can't find him now..."

Ludwig placed a comforting hand on Feliciano's back.

"I see. I am sorry to hear that," he said. Arthur looked at them.

"Have you two seen any others?" he asked. Ludwig tensed.

"Yes. Lovino is gone. As are Gilbert and Antonio," he replied. Feliciano tensed then looked up at Ludwig with sad, tear-filled eyes.

"W-What? You never told me they..."

He blinked and the tears fell down his cheeks. Alfred sighed heavily, not sure what to say anymore.

Ludwig looked ashamed.

"I'm sorry, Feliciano. I didn't want to upset you further," he said. Arthur couldn't believe they had lost so many people.

"Well…we have to make sure we don't lose anyone else. We _will_ find Mr. Vargas, Matthew, Ivan and Yao, and we _will_ get out of here together," he said, looking determined. This was his fault, Arthur wouldn't allow anyone else to die. Then he remembered something. "Ludwig, Feliciano. We found out that Peter is the killer, not the teacher. Please keep an eye out for him."

Alfred looked at Arthur from the corner of his eye. He could only imagine the guilt his friend must feel by now. He gently placed his hand on Arthur's shoulder and gave a small squeeze. Feliciano sniffled and wiped his eyes.

"Y-You mean the little ragazzo from the paper? How could such a small child be the cause of all this?"

Arthur shook his head.

"I'm not positive, but it seemed as though he managed to manipulate the teacher into kidnapping the children and restraining them. How he managed to convince the teacher to do that, I don't know," he replied. "However, I do know that if we can get Peter to show remorse for what he did, the child spirits will move on, and the spaces will come together and we will be able to leave."

Feliciano blinked once in confusion but nodded.

"Ok. So, how do we find him?"

Alfred turned to look at Arthur.

"And once we find him, how do we get the little dude to show remorse?" he thought out loud. Arthur frowned.

"I don't know yet, but we shouldn't go looking for him until we find a way," he said. Ludwig nodded.

"Yes. Feliciano and I will search this side of the school, and you two can continue on that side. We should make this place the meeting spot, and mark it so we can find our way back when we find any information that could be of use," he replied. "Besides, we still have to find the others."

Arthur then remembered something.

"Alfred, Wyuna gave you that statuette to give to Ludwig. You should be able to toss it across to them, right?" he said. Alfred reached into his pocket and nodded, pulling it out.

"Yeah. I should be able to. Hey, Ludwig, how's your catch?" he chuckled. Ludwig sighed.

"Just toss whatever it is over," he replied. Alfred wound up like a baseball pitcher and, with a grunt, threw the little statue over the hole.

"A little ghost chick gave it to us. She said it was for you."

Ludwig caught the statue before it smacked him in the face. He grumbled and glared at the American.

"Did she say what it was for?" Ludwig asked.

"No. She just said you'd know what to do with it when the time came," Arthur replied. Feliciano looked at Ludwig's hand clenched around the little statue.

"What is it, Ludwig?" he asked, getting impatient. Ludwig looked down at the statue.

"It's a dragon," he said, a little surprised by how intricately the marble statuette had been designed. Ludwig looked back up. "Alright, I'll keep this with me. So, when we find the others and a way to get Peter to remorse, we'll meet back here."

"That's right. Be careful you two," Arthur replied. He tugged on Alfred's sleeve and they walked off. Feliciano waved.

"Stay safe, i miei amici," he called, worry riddled through his voice. His grip on Ludwig's sleeve tightened slightly, afraid that the German would disappear if he let go.

**Translations**: Scheiße = shit (German), ragazzo = boy (Italian), , i miei amici = my friends (Italian)


	10. Chapter 9

**Warnings:** Same as usual? If you've gotten this far I assume your fine with it all

Chapter 9

Arthur and Alfred had been walking for a while when Arthur gave a gasp.

"Bloody hell! I forgot! I forgot to give Feliciano his ID and paper doll scrap back," he groaned, face-palming. Alfred pinched the bridge of his nose with a grumble.

"Nice going, dumb-dumb. What do we do now?"

Arthur smacked Alfred's arm.

"You could have remembered too, you arse! Whatever. I'll give it to him when we meet back up," he replied. Arthur began walking again. Alfred set his jaw and pushed Arthur's head forward.

"Hey don't blame me for your screw up, man," he snorted, walking ahead. Arthur growled.

"You're such a twat," he snapped. Arthur pushed past Alfred and stomped ahead of him. He spotted an unknown hallway and decided to go down it. Arthur spotted double doors at the end and hurried towards them. He pushed them open and stepped out onto a walkway.

Alfred growled back and ran after Arthur. He pushed through the double doors and came skidding to a stop before running into the blonde.

"Look who's talking, you grump!"

Arthur gave him a sneer.

"At least I was smart enough to find this damn walkway," he replied, walking towards the other set of doors. "But I guess your brain is too full of thoughts of junk food to do much."

Alfred's eye twitched with suppressed anger and he swiftly hooked his foot under Arthur's, effectively tripping the Brit. He laughed and stuck his tongue out as he pushed the doors open.

"Serves you right, asshole!"

Arthur glared at Alfred and quickly tackled him to the ground, smacking him in the head repeatedly.

"You're a complete moron! Why do you have to be so damn insufferable!?" he snarled. Alfred fell with a grunt and raised his arms over his head trying to block Arthur's smacks.

"Why do you have to be so stuck up and mean?!" he growled, raising his knee to smack Arthur in the stomach. Arthur gave a gasp as Alfred's knee connected with his stomach. He rolled off and lay on the ground, a pained wheeze leaving his mouth.

Alfred stayed laying on his back and looked over at Arthur, instantly feeling bad. He hadn't intended to hit him so hard. He sighed and reached over to touch Arthur's hand.

"Hey, I'm sorry ok?"

Arthur took a moment to get his breath back, and when he did he felt tears gather in his eyes.

"I…I don't know what's going on with me…" he whimpered, covering his face with his free hand. Alfred blinked in surprise and rolled over to sit up and place a hand on Arthur's shoulder, giving a reassuring squeeze.

"Hey, it's alright, man. I'm not hurt," he replied, more than a little confused. Arthur slowly sat up and rubbed at his eyes.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you, Alfred. I really don't know what came over me," he said, holding his head in his hands. Alfred blinked and awkwardly wrapped his arms around Arthur's shoulders, pulling him close.

"It's alright, dude. I didn't mean it either," he replied, rubbing the Brit's back in slow, gentle circles. Arthur relaxed and sighed.

"I think it's this building. It's messing with my head," he muttered. Alfred nodded, continuing to rub his friend's back.

"Well, you have been getting possessed pretty often. Heh, I think that would mess with anyone's head pretty damn good," he chuckled softly. Arthur gave a single nod. He stood and held his hand out to help Alfred up.

"So…is this the other building you mentioned? The one you and Matthew found?" Arthur asked. Alfred accepted the help and placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder with a small smile. He looked at the building in front of them.

"Yeah, I think so," he replied. Arthur walked over to the other double doors and pushed them open. He stepped inside and grimaced. The air inside was stifling. Looking around, he noticed two doors on opposite sides of the room. He figured they ought to go in the door closest to them first.

"Oh!" Arthur gasped in shock. Laying on the ground ahead was a fresh corpse. Alfred looked away and gagged. The stench was bad and he wasn't sure he wanted to know who it was...

Arthur spotted an ID and walked over to pick it up.

"It seems this person was called Roderich Edlestein. Wha!? He was stabbed!" he exclaimed, quickly taking a few steps back. "How awful."

Alfred took a silent breath of relief. He was worried it was another or their friends. He turned to look and instantly regretted it.

"Ugh! Yeah. Poor guy."

Arthur gave a hum of inquiry when he saw something else nearby. He walked over and picked up the stuffed polar bear.

"I wonder who dropped this…a child, maybe?" Arthur wondered, going back over to Alfred to show him. Alfred's eyes widened and he snatched the bear away. For a moment he was speechless as he looked into the shiny black button eyes.

"..No...This...This is Matty's..." he choked out, eyes filling with tears. Arthur was shocked.

"Oh," was all he could say. Arthur wasn't sure what to think, but thing certainly didn't seem good.

Matthew sat on the ground, back against a wall, and rubbed at his eyes. He hadn't heard Andersen in a while and he couldn't keep running.

"Aww, poor thing. Heheh."

Matthew gasped and looked up. Standing in front of him was a young boy dressed in a sailor outfit.

"W-who are you?" Matthew asked, feeling a little uneasy. The boy snickered and grinned.

"I need to tell you something. Will you listen to me?" he asked. Matthew looked around, then back at the spirit.

"Umm…Alright, I suppose," he agreed, standing up. "Usually I'm afraid of ghosts, but you don't seem all that frightening."

The boy grinned.

Arthur and Alfred had looked all over the building.

"There's so much blood everywhere," Arthur commented as they walked back downstairs. Alfred had been mostly silent, clutching Mathew's stuffed polar bear to his chest. He nodded once with a hum of agreement. Arthur wished he could cheer Alfred up, but he didn't know what to say. They walked into the front entryway when the sound of crying caught Arthur's attention. He followed the sound and gave a noise of surprise.

"Matthew?"

Matthew looked up from where he'd been crouched behind a cabinet. Alfred's head jumped up with so much speed he nearly got whiplash. He ran across the entryway and threw his arms around Mathew.

"Oh thank god, Matty! I was so worried about you!" he cried, helping his cousin to stand. Matthew returned the hug with equal vigor.

"Alfred!" he exclaimed. "I thought you left! I was so scared!"

Alfred pulled back and ruffled his cousin's blonde hair.

"Hell no! I wouldn't leave you behind, kiddo!" he chuckled. He held up the stuffed polar bear in his other hand with a smile. "Don't ever lose this again! You scared me."

Matthew took the bear.

"Kumajiro! I didn't even realize I'd dropped him…Thank you," he replied, grinning happily. Arthur smiled, glad to see that Matthew was alright.

Alfred smiled brightly and gently punched Mathew's shoulder.

"Sure thing, buddy. Come on, stick with us."

Matthew nodded.

"Oh, do you know where the Custodian's Closet is? While I was looking for you, I was told that there was something important in there," he requested. Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"Who told you?" he asked. Matthew shrugged.

"Some spirit," he replied. "It was scary, but it didn't attack me."

Alfred blinked and looked at Arthur.

"What did this spirit look like, Matty?" he asked, a little worried. Matthew shrugged.

"I don't remember. I was panicking too much. Sorry," he replied. Alfred gave a small smile and put his hand on Mathew's shoulder.

"It's ok, buddy. No harm done." He turned to Arthur. "I guess our next stop is the Custodian Closet, hmm?"

Arthur nodded.

"Right. Besides, there are friendly spirits here. Maybe whatever is in the Custodian's Closet will help us get out," he replied, leading the way out of the second building. Alfred was skeptical. Sure there _were_ some nice spirits here. But those were the ones they had gotten their tongues back. The ones who were out to get them were the ones left over.

A deep empty feeling dropped down into Alfred's gut and a chill ran up his spine. In the back of his mind he seriously doubted they were going to get out of this alive. Or, if they did, it wouldn't be unscathed.

Arthur led the two into the first building a paused.

"That hallway wasn't there before…" he said, looking at the new hallway.

"Should we check it out, eh?" Matthew asked. Arthur nodded.

"It might lead somewhere important," he replied. Leading the way once more, Arthur walked along the new hallway and was surprised when they arrived outside a door labeled 'Custodian's Closet'.

Alfred blinked.

"That was easy..." he said, his voice hinting his suspicion. It was a little too easy given what Hell they had to go through earlier. Arthur hummed his agreement. He tried the door and it opened easily. As soon as Arthur stepped inside he was hit was a horrible odor.

"Bloody hell!" he exclaimed, pressing his hands over his nose and mouth. Arthur, reluctantly, walked in further. He recognized that smell, unfortunately. Alfred cringed and pulled Mathew behind him.

"Don't look," he ordered, turning his cousin around as he looked inside. "What's in there, Arthur?"

Arthur looked around and saw nothing unusual, except for how big it was. He walked over to the closet and opened the door. The smell was overpowering and he had to take a few steps back.

"Someone died in here!" he called back. Something inside, behind the body, caught his eye. "Alfred, Matthew, I think you ought to come here. There's some sort of light inside the closet."

Alfred was reluctant to let Mathew inside but, with a sigh, did. He held his nose as the two walked closer.

"Ugh! What light is so important?"

Arthur walked closer to the closet and peered back inside. Now that he was looking properly, he could tell what the corpse inside was wearing.

"Oh…That's…This corpse belongs to Natalia," he said, feeling a little sad. Arthur shook his head and leaned back in.

"Look back into the corner, Alfred. Doesn't it look like a gap or something?" he asked. Alfred sucked in a breath and looked in, having to pry his eyes from the gore of the corpse. He noticed the gap in the wall.

"Hey, yeah! That is a gap! Should we check it out?"

Arthur nodded.

"Yes," he said, stepping over Natalia's corpse and into the closet. "Be careful not to step on the body."

Arthur pressed against the wall at the back and it creaked open. He slid through the opening into an odd room with a single light and a ladder. Alfred held the gap open while Mathew stepped inside and, giving one last look to Natalia's corpse, slipped through himself. Once through, he looked around the room.

"Well, we don't have much in the way of options, do we." he snorted, walking over to the ladder. Arthur joined him at the base of the ladder.

"Apparently not," he agreed. Arthur tested the ladder and frowned. "It's a bit shaky. We should go up one at a time. I don't think it will hold all of us at once."

Not wasting any time, Arthur began to climb up the ladder. Matthew looked at his cousin.

"Do you want to go next? Or should I?" he asked. Alfred put a hand on Mathew's shoulder and gave a cheeky grin.

"You next, little buddy. Be careful, ok?"

Matthew nodded.

"You be careful too," he said, before climbing up after Arthur. Alfred gave a small chuckle and watched Mathew climb up, quickly following.

"Alright, where to now, Mr. Tour Guide?" he teased, dusting some cobwebs and heavy brown dust off his pants as he stepped through a door and into, surprisingly, a bathroom. Arthur stood outside the stall, looking down at the body that was shrouded with their school uniform coat.

"I think…that's Lovino," he said. Matthew was looking away sadly. Alfred's eyes widened and he blinked back a tear.

"Poor Feliciano..." he whispered. He had heard from Ludwig that Lovino didn't make it but... this was really bad. Arthur nodded.

"We have to get out of this school. I can't handle anyone else dying," he said, leaving the bathroom. Alfred hummed agreement and led Mathew out.

"Where should we go now?" he asked, voice melancholy. Arthur shrugged.

"I suppose we just keep walking around. This school is changing more often, it seems, so maybe we'll be able to find new areas," he said, leading them downstairs. Matthew nodded.

"It does look pretty different than when we first saw it," he agreed.

Ludwig and Feliciano had been searching for the others for a while, however, Ludwig had no idea where they were. Everything had changed. There were new hallways and spaces that shouldn't be next to each other were. They were currently looking at a strange split in the directions of the hallway.

Ludwig chose a random hallway and came to a stop before a machine with a lever.

"Hmm….I wish there was a label on this thing. Then we'd know if we should pull it or not," he said. Feliciano nodded and gripped it.

"Well, let's find out anyway."

He pulled it down but the rust on it was making it difficult.

"Feliciano!" Ludwig exclaimed angrily. There was a brief rumbling and then nothing. Ludwig sighed. "Feliciano, you shouldn't pull strange levers!"

Feliciano let go and stepped back from the machine, head hung slightly.

"Sorry, Ludwig..." he apologized, twiddling his fingers. "It just seemed better than doing nothing."

Ludwig shook his head.

"It's fine, since it didn't seem to do anything. But please be more careful next time. I don't want you to get hurt," he said, placing a hand on Feliciano's shoulder. Feliciano blushed slightly and smiled.

"Ok. But I don't think you would let me get hurt, Ludwig," he replied, leaning into the German's touch slightly.

Ludwig gave Feliciano a small smile.

"Of course not," he replied before leading him along the hallway. Unfortunately, there wasn't anywhere else to go due to the multiple holes in the floor.

They headed back down the winding hall and took the other way. This one was short and stopped at a small room. In two corners of the room were marble pedestals. Ludwig looked at the statue he had.

"Maybe this goes on one of them," he commented, walking over to one of the pedestals. There was a round groove in the center that seemed like it would fit the dragon statue. Ludwig set it down and it fit perfectly. "We'll need to find a second one."

Feliciano hummed.

"But where do we even start to look for it? This one was given to us," he wondered aloud. Ludwig shook his head.

"I don't know. However, we can't go any further in this area. We should look elsewhere," he replied. Feliciano nodded once.

"What if we go back and meet up with Arthur and Alfred? Maybe they found the other one!" he suggested hopefully. Ludwig nodded and smiled.

"Good idea. At the very least, they might have some valuable information," he agreed.

The two walked back the way they had come and managed to find their way back to the meeting spot.

"I suppose we'll have to wait for them to show up," Ludwig said. Feliciano nodded and leaned absentmindedly into Ludwig's chest.

"Sì. I wonder how long we'll have to wait," he yawned quietly. Ludwig shrugged and blushed, hesitantly wrapping an arm around Feliciano.

"Alfred! Look, they're there already. We won't have to wait," Arthur's voice came from the other side of the hole. Ludwig looked over and saw as Arthur and Alfred and…Matthew came into view. Even though he didn't know Matthew very well at all, he was happy to see that Matthew had survived.

Feliciano pulled back and smiled, waving happily at the others.

"Yay! You all are alright! Hi Mathew!" he called. Matthew smiled and waved back.

"Hi. It's good to see you two," he called back. Arthur walked to the edge of the hole.

"Feliciano, I have you're ID. I'm sorry that I forgot to give it back earlier," he said. "I'll toss it over to you. Ready?"

Feliciano perked up and nodded.

"Alright. I'm ready."

He crouched into an awkward looking position, making Alfred laugh loudly. Arthur tossed the ID over to Feliciano.

"It has your paper scrap with it. Don't lose that again," he told the Italian. Feliciano fell to the side to grab the ID, nearly losing it down the hole.

"Phew. I got it! Grazie," he replied, sitting back up. Arthur nodded.

"Oh, by the way, we wanted to tell you that we found something odd. There is a secret passage that leads from the Custodian's Closet to the girl's bathroom upstairs," he said. Ludwig frowned.

"That is odd indeed," he agreed. Feliciano froze at the mention of the bathroom but occupied himself with stuffing his ID and the scrap of paper into his pocket. Alfred noticed the Italian tense.

"I would probably stay out of there though, dude. A girl died in the closet and it ain't pretty," he added, hoping that would derail bringing Feliciano back to his brother's corpse. Matthew nodded in agreement.

"Arthur, Alfred, we were wondering if you found another marble statue? We found where they go," Ludwig inquired. Alfred shook his head.

"Arthur and I didn't. Matty, did you find a little statue?"

Matthew shook his head.

"No, I didn't," he replied. Feliciano looked up at Ludwig.

"Where should we look?" he asked. Ludwig shook his head.

"I don't know," he said. Alfred shrugged his shoulders.

"Sorry, man. We'll keep an eye out for one too."

Ludwig nodded and turned to Feliciano.

"Let's just keep looking," he said, leading Feliciano away. Feliciano turned back and waved as he was led away.

"Bye-Bye!"

Alfred waved lazily and turned back to Arthur and Mathew.

"So where to now?"

Arthur shrugged.

"We do what they're doing. Just keep exploring," he said, walking away. Arthur led them along the changed hallways. As they walked, Arthur spotted some papers on the ground. He picked it up and read it over.

"Natalia's Notes. Hmm," he hummed. Arthur opened it to one of the pages. "'I attempted to tell my beloved Ivan of my findings today, but he wouldn't listen. Why doesn't he listen? If he had…we could have gone to Sunnyside Middle School together. Maybe I'll go on my own, first, and then when he has time to worry over where I am, I'll return. Then he'll listen to me. And then we can go back together'…Wait, there's drops of blood on this. What happened?"

Alfred shook his head.

"I don't know, man, but she sounds a little crazy," he replied. Arthur sighed.

"We'll keep an eye out for more of these. Maybe there will be important information from them," he said. Alfred shrugged.

They walked for quite a while, however, they came to a stop outside the Science Lab. Blood was smeared over the doors. Alfred grimaced.

"Do we _have_ to go in here?" he complained, not wanting to deal with another clue in blood. Arthur was about to reply when he saw Peter walk around the corner. The ghost child grinned and walked into the Science Lab.

"I…maybe? It could be important," Arthur said. Alfred groaned and turned the handle.

"Alright, let's get this over with."

Arthur and Matthew followed Alfred inside. The room was rather large and, though dirty, still mostly intact. Standing at the front of the room was what looked like a tall man with a sheet over him.

"…I really hope that's not a body," Matthew whimpered. Alfred nodded and walked up to it.

"Yeah. I'll check."

He reached out and lifted a corner of the sheet up to look. He gave a sigh of relief and turned back to the other two with a smile.

"It's ok, dudes. It's just a dummy."

Matthew and Arthur sighed.

"That's good," Matthew said. Arthur began looking around the lab when he spotted something on one of the tables.

"Hey, it's another statue," he told the others. Alfred turned to look.

"Hey yeah! Nice catch, man," he picked it up. Matthew smiled.

"Now we can give it to Ludwig and Feliciano," he said. Matthew's eyes went wide when he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. Neither Alfred nor Arthur were close enough to do that. Matthew turned and let out a scream. The anatomical model was right behind him, muscled hand on his shoulder. He ran forward past Alfred and Arthur.

The sheet on the model fell away as it began to approach and Matthew screamed louder.

"ANDERSEN!"

He ran towards the exit. Alfred jumped and ran towards the model. How the Hell did Mathew know its name? And how was it moving?! He grabbed a chair from one of the desks and hit the model over the head with it.

The "anatomical model" didn't even flinch. It grabbed Alfred and began to squeeze him tightly around the throat.

"Alfred!" Arthur and Matthew shouted at the same time. Both ran over and attempted to get the "model's" hands off Alfred. It smacked at Arthur and Matthew with its free hand, attempting to fend them off.

Alfred kicked at the model as he gasped for breath, trying to pry the gross, fleshy hand from his throat. Eventually, as it attempted to attack all of them, it dropped Alfred.

"Alfred run!" Arthur shouted, dodging a fist to the face. Matthew ran over and grabbed Alfred's arm and began pulling him towards the exit. Alfred coughed and hacked, his vision blurry. He tried to hurry to stand and pushed Mathew out the door.

"Go... Get out, Matty!" he cried. Arthur grabbed Alfred and practically threw him out the door.

"Don't be a bloody idiot!" he snapped, rushing after them. The door slammed shut behind them. Alfred stood with some weakness and breathed heavily, eyes wide at the door.

"Good god! Don't tell me that was a Real person!"

Matthew whimpered, rocking back and forth.

"That was…oh god! He…that…" he muttered, looking scared. Arthur frowned.

"Matthew?" he inquired. Alfred pulled Mathew into a hug and shushed him.

"It's ok, Matty. Shhh. Just breathe," he said soothingly. Matthew clung to Alfred, breathing slowly.

"Alfred…that was a person," he said. Alfred swallowed the lump in his throat, trying to be brave for his cousin, and continued to rock the scared blonde.

"...Yeah. I-I know. But it's gone now... You don't have to worry."

Matthew nodded and slowly relaxed. Arthur sighed.

"I wish we could rest after that, but we ought to keep going," he said. Alfred nodded and gave Mathew's back one last rub before straightening.

"Yeah, you're right. We need to get this statue to Ludwig and Feliciano."

The trio wandered the halls for a bit. Arthur had found a few more scraps of Natalia's notes along the way. Most were babbling about how much she loved her brother or how much she hated everyone who took his attention away from her. There was one bunch of papers that got his attention, however.

"Hmm. It looks like there are more than usual," Arthur commented. "'I must write down the proper instructions to 'Peter's Circle of Eternity', or more properly known as 'Peter in the Everafter' as well as how to reverse its effects.

"'Peter in the Everafter – Proper Observance: What causes the spell to work, is the phrase 'Peter we beg of you'. It must be repeated for each participant, and then once more for Peter. Following this, the paper doll is ripped apart. (If the original doll from the Kirkland estate be unavailable, a reproduction will work as well.) If everything is performed properly, the spirit will pass by harmlessly and nothing of note will happen. However, if performed incorrectly, then Peter will attach to any available spirit medium in the area, and all participants will be spirited away.

"'Procedure for Reversal – If Peter has been angered, you may atone by redoing the ritual properly, but in reverse. Use your remnant of the doll, then recite the phrase the correct number of times, and finally, put the pieces together.' This…Natalia…she…."

Arthur was horrified and enraged. How could she have done this!?

"Alfred, Matthew, we have to find Natalia!" he said, marching off down the hall.

Not too long later, they spotted Natalia, who was entering a room.

The three walked into the room. It looked to be a library or something similar. Natalia was standing by a bookshelf.

"Natalia," Arthur said. The girl turned and gave a small smile.

"Dobry dzień, Arthur. What a pleasure to see you," she replied. Arthur mentally prepared himself.

"Natalia…we have some information we'd like to share with you," he told her. Natalia crossed her arms in front of her stomach and nodded once.

"You have my attention. What is it you would like to share?" she asked. Arthur explained about Peter, and how he had found out about the true identity of the murderer. Natalia hummed, her finger tapping her cheek.

"So, Peter was the perpetrator? I had no idea… Very interesting indeed. Thank you for providing me with this valuable information. However, you've only solved half the mystery. You have yet to figure out who, exactly, Peter is. There's still a lot of ground left to cover before we've learned all there is to know about this school… " Natalia thought for a moment then turned away. "At any rate, there's someone I need to find. If you'll please excuse me…"

Arthur frowned a bit.

"Wait! I'm not done talking with you," he called after her. Natalia looked over her shoulder with an unamused glare.

"Yes, you are. I've lost interest in what you have to say," she snorted. Then a sly grin pulled at her lips.

"Who was that boy in the staff room, I wonder? Was he a classmate of yours? A brother, perhaps?" she mused in a very diabolical way. "You share a strong bond."

Natalia pouted slightly and tapped her chin with her index finger. "I would enjoy it so if more people like that came around for me to watch. It is so much more… zabaŭliaĺny."

She began to cackle madly. Alfred grabbed Mathew's shoulders and backed them up slightly. This girl was nuts! Arthur's frown increased.

"Natalia…I'm disappointed in you," he said. Natalia stopped laughing for a moment before looking at Arthur, her head cocked to the side.

"Hm? Now, why would that be? Weren't you a veritable fan of mine?" she smirked. Arthur shook his head and held out one of the papers he had found scattered about the school.

"Because of this!" he snapped. Natalia looked down at the paper, unamused.

"Da? And?"

Arthur grit his teeth.

"What is this 'Peter in the Everafter' malarkey?" he demanded. "And what are the ruins of the Kirkland estate!? You intentionally put the wrong instructions on that blog! You wanted the ritual to fail!...Was it for your 'beloved'? Ivan? Your own brother!?"

Natalia began her maniacal laugh once again then it stopped abruptly and she glared.

"You think you're so smart, da? We'll you're not!" She stepped closer and her glare intensified. "Anyone who takes stuff posted on the net and swallows it whole without a second thought is a fucking tupień!"

Suddenly her expression turned to one of a girl who had lost her mind. "But Ivan… Darahi Ivan smiles at me when I do right by him. Oh, Ivan… Moj salodki… I would do _anything_ for you…anything at all…"

She calmed once again and looked at Arthur unamused.

"But you occult freaks, you can all rot in Hell, for all I care!"

Alfred's eyes widened and he cautiously pushed Mathew towards the door. Arthur growled.

"You're a horrid, sick, bitch," he snapped. "How could you do this!?"

Natalia looked indifferent as she shrugged her shoulders.

"It's my duty to protect my sviatlo. And I won't let _anyone_ get in my way!" she growled stepping into Arthur's face and pushing him back. Alfred gasped and pushed Mathew behind himself.

"Arthur!"

Arthur only stumbled a bit, but he wasn't deterred.

"Natalia…you died here. Do you even remember what you were thinking when you died?" he asked. Natalia backed off and her expression softened.

"Niama. Try as I might, that is the only thing my mind won't remember," she explained. Arthur sighed.

"Your selfishness cost you your life. You're very last actions….You lost your mind, and killed yourself!" he told her, showing her the page that she had written last – her suicide note. Natalia looked at the paper and her eyes widened. She back away as a scream built in her throat.

"Ugh. Niama... A-A-AHhhhhhH!"

She grabbed both sides of her head and fell to her knees as she screamed. Arthur backed up, eyes wide, and moved to stand beside Alfred and Matthew. Matthew whimpered and clung to Alfred tightly. Suddenly, Natalia's eyes went blank and her cheeks sunk in; the skin stretching over the bone. She gurgled deep in her throat as a black fog tumbled from her mouth.

"UGHHHHHHHHGLUHHHHH..." she moaned. Alfred's eyes were wide and he pushed Mathew farther back, ready to push his cousin out the door at a moment's notice. Arthur watched as Natalia rose into the air and, after hovering for a moment, disappeared. He blinked and shuddered. Arthur had no idea what feel about what just happened, other than highly unsettled.

Alfred's body was still tense as he watched the small light float in the air. He wasn't sure what to expect anymore. Arthur sighed and ushered them to the door.

"We should go. I think we have all the information we're going to get here," he said. Alfred nodded and left, pulling Mathew with him.

"Damn... That was... sad." he remarked. Arthur shook his head.

"In many ways, yes, it was. She was a sick person," he replied. "Though I'm surprised Ivan hadn't ever mentioned her…"

Alfred nodded.

"Yeah... She was basically his stalker though, so I would imagine he would want to keep it quiet. Heh, he was probably afraid of it scaring Yao off," he teased. Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Alright, let's go meet up with Ludwig and Feliciano," he replied, walking off down the hall.

**Translations:** Dobry dzień = Hello (Belarusian), Darahi = darling (Belarusian), Niama = No (Belarusian), zabaŭliaĺny = entertaining (Belarusian), Moj salodki = my sweet/dear (Belarusian)


End file.
